


A Town With(out) Me

by HaruPotter15



Category: Bleach
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Animal Instincts, Animal Traits, Erased themes, Fire Powers, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Petting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mages, OC-centric, Original Character-centric, Pet Names, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scents & Smells, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, did i mention the angst, possible underage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2020-05-16 00:46:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19307218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruPotter15/pseuds/HaruPotter15
Summary: Slowly, inexorably, Ichigo presses his lips to Lucky's. It’s soft and gentle and chaste and maybe there are no fireworks or sparks, but it’s better than that - it’s like a wave of warmth. Lucky stifles a surprised gasp. Just as he feels a rush of euphoric bliss envelop him, making his heart stutter, Ichigo draws away.Lucky flutters his eyes open, too many emotions to name swirling in his maroon orbs. Ichigo smiles down at him, warm and soft and so kind, eyes black and pupils gold.And then he's gone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.❞ - - Judith McNaught, Remember When (Foster Saga, #1)

 

**_Chapter One:_ **

"Alright class, settle down." Ochi Misato, the homeroom teacher, calls from the front. She shuffles a few papers on her desk and smiles, her glasses glint from the sun shining in through the window. Her long, brown hair is open today and falls over her shoulders prettily. She waits as the class settles down.

"We're getting a new student today, so please welcome him in with open arms. He's moved all the way down here from Ikebukuro." She explains, brown eyes wandering over the class. Her smile suddenly turns into a sharp smirk. "Kurosaki, Kuchiki and Co. I hope the lot of you don't so anything _too_ stupid during this lesson,” Ochi-Sensei warns.

Inoue Orihime laughs nervously, playing with a lock of her dark orange hair.

Kuchiki Rukia makes an affronted noise. "Me?" She murmurs scandalized, pressing her chin into the palm of her hand. "Though I understand why Ichigo needs a warning." She mutters snidely, tilting her head towards the orange haired male almost mockingly.

"Hey!" Kurosaki Ichigo growls. He moves to swat at her and the black haired girl just about dodges the skim of his fingers.

"You should probably stop." Yasutora "Chad" Sado mumbles from where he's sat. His voice is low and deep.

Ichigo opens his mouth, words on the tip of his tongue, one thin eyebrow twitching, but then Ochi-Sensei sends him a dark look and he shuts his mouth with an audible click.

Ishida Uryuu sighs as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, obviously annoyed from being called a part of Ichigo’s group.

"Please, come in.” Ochi-Sensei calls, a softer smile easing over her features as she turns to look towards the front entrance to the class.

The door to the class slides open and the class erupts into quiet murmurs.

It's a male, with short, unruly black hair that falls in curls across his forehead. He's pale, with odd maroon coloured eyes. He's dressed in the 'standard' uniform. White button up under a black-pullover hoodie, gray blazer, gray slacks, converse with miss matched laces, one black the other red. A chain glints on the males pants, it hangs loosely from the front to just behind his hip. He rubs his hand awkwardly against the back of his neck, a simple black bracelet comes into view. There's a charm attached to it that's out of view, hidden behind the cuff of his gray blazer. A necklace hangs loosely from around his neck and disappears under his hoodie. There's a red split in his bottom lip, his knuckles are bruised red and there's a medical patch covering his left cheek. A discoloured bruise sits at the edge of his jaw. "I'm Akumaki Lucky. It's nice to meet you.” He mutters, shifting his gaze to the side. The sun filters in through the window and reflects against the two helix piercings on his cartilage.

Some girls at the front of the class squeal loudly.

"I hope he's okay,” Orihime says quietly, lips turning down in concern. She presses the tip of her index finger against her bottom lip in thought.

"I'm sure he's just fine.” Uryuu mutters back to her.

The dark orange haired girl merely hums.

Ochi-Sensei sighs dramatically. "Aww, another delinquent,” she whines. She whips her head towards Ichigo and grins wolfishly. "Oi, brat. Take him into your delinquent group."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitches. "We're not a delinquent group!" He exclaims.

Rukia presses her forehead against her desk table and cries crocodile tears. "Why does she think I'm a delinquent too?"

Chad sweat drops.

 

\----

 

"Lucky is a really cute name! It's the type of name you'd give to a cute little puppy! Aw! Maybe even a kitten, you know? Like those fluffy ones?" Orihime rambles, grin wide and brown eyes shining. There's a small blush over her cheeks and the wind softly blows her dark orange hair behind her.

Lucky ducks his head, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I guess.” He mumbles, avoiding the girls kind gaze.

"And it's not Japanese! Which is really cool,” Orihime leans closer, brown eyes twinkling. "It's super duper cool.” She insists.

Lucky leans further away from her, ears and nose twitching. He tugs on the laces of his hoodie uncomfortably.

"Orihime.” Ichigo calls, his voice sounds normal, but the way he tilts his head and settles his gaze onto the female makes it look like a warning. "Give the poor guy some space."

"Oh! Right!" Orihime shuffles a space further away, grin still wide and gaze still kind. "Sorry" she says, "I get a little too excited sometimes."

 

Lucky shakes his head, black locks falling even wilder against his forehead. "It's okay, Inoue" he says, maroon coloured eyes flickering from Ichigo to Orihime.

 

Orihime's face falls. She gasps loudly, hands flailing around her. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to use your first name! We've only just met! I'm so, so sorry!" She fumbles, pressing her palms together and bowing.

 

Lucky instantly turns his gaze to the others. He suddenly feels even more awkward than usual.

 

They're all sat on the school rooftop, lunches spread out all around them. Rukia is arm wrestling Chad, devious smile in place. Uryuu is eating his bento and reading some sort of book. There's a few others, Keigo and Asano are playing cards, Arisawa is arguing with Honshou-

 

"You're just a big pervert, Chizuru!"

 

"How dare you, Tatsuki!"

 

Natsui and Ogawa are calmly eating their food, quietly chatting to each other.

 

Lucky turns his gaze back to Orihime who's still bowing. He shifts, fingers fiddling with the gray cuffs of his blazer. What should he do? Lucky's maroon coloured eyes accidentally make eye contact with chocolate brown orbs. Ichigo is staring at him, expression calm, orange hair rustling from the soft breeze and dark brown eyes studying Lucky's face.

 

Heat rises to Lucky's cheeks and he ducks his head again. "It's okay… Orihime" He mumbles quietly, tugging on the laces of his hoodie again.

 

Orihime is in his personal space before he even knows it. Her nose is centimetres away from his own, with how close she is, Lucky can see the colour of honey swirling in her brown eyes. Lucky turns his head to the side when he feels her minty breath fan his face. Orihime grins brightly. "Have you ever had fries with ice cream, Lucky?" she asks.

 

Lucky turns his head back to her, ears twitching and eyebrows raising. "Ice cream with fries…?" He trails off, tilting his head in question.

 

Orihime squeals loudly before she tackles him into a hug.

 

Ichigo pulls the female off as soon as he sees how uncomfortable Lucky is with her touch.

 

"But he's so cute!" Orihime pouts.

 

Ichigo sighs, gaze turning towards Lucky who's pulling the front of his hoodie over his face. His pale fingers are shaking. "Next time" He says quietly, "ease him into it."

 

\----

 

"Soooo" Keigo drags his 'o' on, lips pulled into a shit eating grin as he wiggles his eyebrows mischievously. He leans exceptionally close to Lucky, "What do you think of Orihime, hmm? Is she pretty? Is she your type?" He presses on as Lucky shifts further away from the brown haired male, nose twitching and maroon gaze turning to the side.

 

"Keigo" Ichigo growls, tone filled with warning, chocolate brown eyes narrowed.

 

Keigo 'eeps' and jumps away from Lucky. "Sorry, sorry!" He apologises. "Please don't eat me" He says, the tone of his voice higher than usual as Ichigo's jaw ticks. Rukia snickers into the palm of her hand from where she's sat atop her own desk.

 

It's the end of the day. Arisawa and Orihime are cleaning the chalkboard at the front of their homeroom class, Uryuu and Chad are both hunched over a textbook together and the others are all spaced out doing after school tasks.

 

"You're lame, Keigo" Asano chirps, eyes down on his phone as his fingers swipe quickly over his textpad. He smiles at Keigo when the brown haired male starts crying and calling him a fake friend.

 

Lucky sighs and nuzzles his face into the crooks of his elbows. He's sat the opposite way on his chair, back facing the front of the class and his chest pressing into the backrest of the chair. His arms are leaned over the top of the wooden chair, legs hanging off on each side. With the way he's sitting, he's facing Ichigo head on.

 

When Keigo starts getting too dramatic, which he does really quickly, Ichigo turns his gaze away from him and instead looks straight ahead at Lucky.

 

"That's rude, Mr Asano!"

 

"Your face is rude, stop crying. It's ugly."

 

"Rukia! Not you too!"

 

Ichigo tilts his head and his orange hair falls over his forehead. The sun shines softly through the window and illuminates his already bright, orange hair. He stares at Lucky, gaze unnerving.

 

Lucky shifts his gaze to the side of Ichigo's face. He hesitates before he opens his mouth, "She's nice" he says quietly, voice muffled by his arms. "Kinda reminds me of a golden retriever."

 

Ichigo's lips twitch. "A golden retriever, huh?" He huffs out a small laugh that sends shivers running down Lucky's spine. The black haired male shifts in his seat, face burying itself deeper into the crooks of his elbows as he moves his gaze entirely to the window beside him. He gazes lazily at the trees and grass and the students mingling about outside.

 

"What about me?" Ichigo asks after a moment of silence. "What do I remind you off?"

 

Lucky's ears twitch. Closing his eyes, he lets the murmur and bustle of the class overtake his ears. He can hear Orihime laugh at a joke Arisawa makes. Chad mumbles something to Uryuu, there's the sound of a pen scratching against paper, Keigo crashes to the floor and Rukia steps onto his back in triumph while Asano takes a picture.

Honshou is making some elaborate plan to get Orihime to fall in love with her while Natsui and Ogawa simultaneously shoot her down.

 

Lucky flutters his eyes open and turns his gaze back to Ichigo. "A wolf" he says, voice still muffled. Ichigo leans slightly closer, just a few inches so that his upper body is over his desk. "A wolf?" He asks, lips turning up in amusement. Lucky feels his cheeks flush with heat. He ducks his head, black curls falling into his maroon coloured eyes. "Mhhm" He hums, "It's like… I don't know… You're the wolf and _they're_ _your_ _pack_?" Lucky tries, biting into his bottom lip. He winces when his teeth scrape over the slit in his lips.

 

Ichigo stays quiet after that. Until, "I'll walk you home" He says, voice and face normal. The look in his eyes is different. Chocolate brown gazes into maroon until Lucky ducks his head even more. "Okay" He murmurs, pulling at the laces of his hoodie.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.❞ - - John Joseph Powell, The Secret of Staying in Love

**_Chapter Two:_ **

 

Lucky shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He fiddles with the ends of his black hoodie, shoulders hunching until they're touching his pale cheeks. Ichigo is burning holes into the back of his head. It's unnerving. _Uncomfortable._ Too uncomfortable. The orange haired male has been doing that for the past two days.

 

Rukia is staring at him too, chin leaned into the palm of her hand, gray eyes unblinking. Lucky feels his skin prickle. Orihime is looking too, brown eyes filled with concern, lips pulled down into a deep frown. She's craning her head back to get a look at him.

 

Uryuu is tapping his pencil over his textbook, _tap, tap, tap._ He flickers his gaze towards Lucky every few seconds, like he's sure somethings about to happen but he isn't sure _when. C_ had watches the clock strike half-past and then he shifts his gaze towards Lucky, a silent but steady gaze. Lucky feels his stomach churn.

 

"That's it!" Ochi-Sensei yells, making Lucky jump in his seat. His maroon eyes widen, fingers trembling as he pulls his hands towards his chest. The brown haired teacher is stood between him and Rukia. She throws the textbooks in her hands onto the floor with a loud 'slap!' and Lucky flinches, leaning away from the woman.

 

"At least _pretend_ to pay attention, damn it!" She exclaims, turning her dark glare onto Rukia and then onto Ichigo. There's a tick in Ochi-Sensei's jaw, brows furrowed, lips pulled back into a scowl, glasses glinting, "Kurosaki" she says lowering her voice. Her left eyebrow twitches when Ichigo doesn't turn his gaze away from the back of Lucky's head. Ochi-Sensei sighs, the sound short and sharp. "Alright, out of my class delinquents" she says, jutting her chin towards the back door.

 

"Ishida, cover for my class" She calls as Ichigo and Lucky both stand to their feet, chairs scraping against the floor in protest. Ochi-Sensei leads them both out into the hallway and then closes the classroom door behind her. She eyes the two boys with narrowed eyes.

 

Kurosaki Ichigo looks just like he always does. Scowl in place, hands shoved into the pockets of his gray slacks. His body is facing forward yet his face is turned to the side. He's gazing off down the hallway, jaw tense, brown orbs narrowed.

 

Akumaki Lucky is twitching, fingers fumbling with the cuffs of his gray blazer. He kicks his converse against the ground absentmindedly, head ducked and maroon gaze held onto the floor. There's a bruise covering his left eyebrow, it's an odd mix between purple and brown. Lucky shifts on his feet before he peaks up at Ichigo hesitantly.

 

Ochi-Sensei scratches the back of her head as she eyes the giant, hand like imprints around Lucky throat. They're a deep purple, so dark that the bruises look black. She frowns deeply.

 

Ichigo, feeling Lucky's stare, turns his head around and shifts his gaze until it settles on the hand-like bruises on each side of Lucky's neck. His scowl deepens, eyes darkening.

 

Ochi-Sensei sighs, slow and deliberate.

"You know what's easier than staring at the back of Akumaki's head and making everyone in class feel uncomfortable?" she asks, crossing her arms across her chest, unimpressed. She leans closer to the both of them, "Talking to each other" she says in a 'duh' tone.

 

"Now, I'm going to leave you two out here to talk it out. And until you do, I don't want you coming back into class. Got it?"

 

When Ochi-Sensei gets a stiff nod from Lucky and a grunt from Ichigo, she rolls her eyes and returns back to her class leaving the two in loud silence.

 

Lucky rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and winces when his wrist accidentally rubs against the bruise on the left side of his neck. Ichigo’s jaw clenches. "Its been two days" He says, tone neutral. "Are you going to tell me who hurt you or not?" He tilts his head, orange hair falling over his forehead.

 

Lucky's hand falls to his side. "I told you, I just got into a meaningless fight with a nobody" He says, voice soft, reminding the orange haired male of what he had said two days prior. It was Thursday today, meaning the two of them had officially known each other for almost four entire days. Lucky fiddles with the cuffs of his gray blazer again, maroon eyes not being able to meet chocolate brown orbs.

 

Ichigo growls lowly and before Lucky even knows it, the orange male slams his fist against the wall above Lucky's head. The loud 'bang!' makes the hairs on the back of Lucky's neck stand to attention. He flinches when the wall crumbles under Ichigo's tanned fist and creates a small crater around it. Lucky's eyes widen as he takes a hesitant step back and when he bumps into the wall behind him he flinches again.

 

Ichigo growls again, it sounds more animalistic this time and the sound sends shivers running down Lucky's spine. He whines softly, not being able to stop the sound as he pushes himself further into the wall behind him, cheeks flushing red with embarrassment when Ichigo tilts his head closer, chocolate brown eyes flickering dangerously as his minty breath fans Lucky's face. He presses his other hand, palm flat against the wall, right beside Lucky's waist; effectively caging him.

 

"You know what you remind me off?" Ichigo murmurs, chocolate brown orbs gazing into maroon coloured eyes. If he steps any closer, and _Lucky really hopes he doesn't,_ they'll be touching chest to chest.

 

Biting the inside of his cheeks, Lucky shakes his head ever so slightly from side to side. His fingers tremble beside his thighs and his heart thumps loudly from behind his ribcage. Ichigo smells nice, like warm cocoa and something, _something_ else. Lucky's nose twitches.

 

 _"A stray cat"_ Ichigo's words are quiet and Lucky's ears twitch. "I get that I have to be cautious with you" Ichigo lifts his hand, the one he had used to punch the wall with, and slowly brings it closer to Lucky's face. He presses his palm against a pale cheek, cold rings and warmth sending shivers throughout Lucky's body. Lucky doesn't realise he's holding his breath until he releases into a loud sigh of relief, muscles falling lax from tensing. Ichigo rubs his thumb across Lucky's cheek reassuringly. "I won't hurt you" He murmurs softly. "But I need you to trust me."

 

Lucky hesitantly nods his head, black curls shifting over his forehead.

 

Ichigo pulls his hand away from Lucky's cheek. "Will you give me a name?"

 

Maroon coloured eyes suddenly glaze over, tears gathering at the edges and holding onto dark lashes. Lucky shakes his head. "I can't" He says, voice cracking, lips quivering and fingers digging into the palms of his hands. He ducks his head to avoid Ichigo's confused gaze, tears tumbling down his cheeks as he releases a shuddering breath.

 

Ichigo panics. "Shit" He curses, "Are you crying?"

 

Lucky sniffles loudly, pressing his knuckles unto his eyes as he scrubs his tears away. "No" He croaks out softly. "My eyes are just sweating."

 

There's an odd pause and then a weight settles atop Lucky's unruly black hair. Ichigo snorts and pulls him forward into his chest. Lucky let's him, body shivering from the contact. Ichigo pets his hair like he would a dogs; fingertips cradle through his black locks, nails scrape against his scalp until Ichigo presses his thumb into the soft spot behind his ear and Lucky lets out another whine. His body immediately goes lax and he leans himself further into Ichigo, nose pressing into the orange haired males collarbone and fingers curling tightly into the material of the males white button up. He inhales slowly, nose filling with the scent of warm cocoa.

 

"Better?" Ichigo asks, his voice is a quiet rumble now and it makes Lucky's stomach flip. He pulls away, slowly and steadily, eyes red and puffy, nose runny and fingers still clenched tight in Ichigo's shirt. Lucky's cheeks are smeared red and his bottom lip is quivering. He sniffles. "Sorry" He says, voice hoarse. "I ruined your shirt."

 

"Don't worry about it" Ichigo mutters softly, lips turning up into a small smile. He ruffles Lucky's black hair and grins when the tips of Lucky's ears turns a bright red.

 

\----

 

Ichigo doesn't ask about Lucky's bruises again.

 

They sit on the rooftop for lunch, Orihime babbles on about how she's brought something special for Lucky to eat, her cheeks are tinged with pink as she pulls out a can of tuna from her bag. "Tada!" She exclaims, lips forming a wide grin.

 

Lucky blinks at her owlishy, head tilting to the side in confusion. "What's that?" He asks, voice curious and nose twitching. It definitely smelled nice.

 

Rukia hums loudly. "It's tuna" she says and then, "I think" she adds on. She looks just as confused as Lucky does.

 

"It is" Orihime says, "It's tuna in a can. Isn't that amazing?" she asks, brown eyes sparkling. She leans closer to Lucky, the hazel in her eyes glistening. Nose twitching, Lucky leans away from her.

 

"Orihime" Ichigo sighs, shifting in his spot as he nudges the girl away. "Oh! Sorry!" Orihime smiles apologetically, moving back into her spot. "Anyways. Do you want to try some tuna, Lucky, Rukia?"

 

Lucky pulls at the laces of his black hoodie. He hesitantly nods his head, a small "sure" escaping his lips. Rukia shrugs but leans closer to Orihime, obviously interested.

 

Grinning, Orihime opens the can of tuna and when she does Lucky's head snaps up, maroon eyes widening and mouth watering. The tuna smells heavenly. His stomach rumbles and before he knows it he's sat right beside Orihime, shoulders and knees brushing. The girls laughs sweetly. "Smells nice, right?"

 

Lucky nods his head, eyes following the way Orihime scoops up some tuna onto her chopsticks. She holds out the ends towards Lucky and the male doesn't even hesitate before he opens his mouth and takes in the food. His taste buds immediately tingle and his cheeks turn pink as he hums out in delight.

 

Someone muffles a laugh behind him, it sounds like Ichigo. "Definitely a cat" Lucky hears him mutter.

 

We'll, he wasn't wrong.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^ↀᴥↀ^


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.❞ - -Friedrich Nietzsche

**_Chapter Three:_ **

 

Ichigo has nice hands. Large hands with long, slender fingers and short nails. He has a few callouses on the underside of his palm. Thick veins run all the way up from his knuckles to his arms. Ichigo wears rings, two silver ones and a black one. His wrists are covered in faux leather bracelets. Lucky has never stared at someone's hands as long as he's stared at Ichigo's. It's weird. And yet he can't look away.

 

Everyday during break and lunch, or whenever Ochi-Sensei allows them to choose groups for class work, Lucky stares at Ichigo's hands as if they were carved by the Gods themselves. He thinks there might be something wrong with him.

 

On this fateful day, two weeks into their odd friendship, Ichigo finally catches him staring. It's break time, Lucky is sitting the opposite way on his chair, legs thrown over each side, arms leaned over the top, faze nuzzled into his arms as he sits facing Ichigo. It's like any other day, the sun shines in through the window illuminating Ichigo's already bright orange hair, Keigo and Asano are not too far away arguing over some new video game, Rukia and Orihime are chatting to each other at the front of class and Chad and Uryuu are both hunched over a textbook.

 

Until, "Do you like staring at my hands?" Ichigo asks, spreading out his hand flat against his desk. The other one is thrown over the back of his chair.

 

Lucky hums, maroon eyes narrowing in thought. "It's weird" He mutters into his arms, voice muffled.

 

Ichigo raises his hand closer to his face. He quirks a single, orange brow. "I don't get it" He says, "What's weird?" He flexes his fingers and Lucky watches the way the veins on his tanned hands mover ever so slightly. Ichigo lowers his hand back to the table and Lucky keeps staring.

 

Raising his head, Lucky nibbles on the soft flesh of his bottom lip. "It's just-" He cuts himself off, maroon eyes flickering upwards to match chocolate brown orbs. Ichigo's fingers twitch and Lucky immediately turns his gaze back down. He watches the way Ichigo curls and uncurls his hand, fingers stretching, rings glistening from the sun shining in through the window, pale veins turning into a light hue of red and purple.

 

Lucky's reaching to touch Ichigo's hand before he even knows it. Warmth spreads throughout his skin and he exhales slowly at the contact of skin to skin. Ichigo’s hand isn't soft, it's slightly rough. Lucky runs his thumb across the callouses on the underside of Ichigo's palm, he messes about with Ichigo's rings for a second or five and then he plays with the males fingers. Ichigo doest seem to mind. He hasn't said anything to make Lucky stop.

 

"I don't understand" Lucky says, pressing his palm flat against Ichigo's own. His own hand is a lot smaller than Ichigo's, fingertips not reaching, not matching, thumb smaller, hand thinner. It's sort of laughable. They haven't touched since the incident, since Lucky had cried into Ichigo's chest. It feels… Nice.

 

Ichigo tilts his head to the side, spiky orange hair falling over his forehead. He watches Lucky with half lidded eyes. He swipes a tongue over his bottom lip when Lucky glances up at him innocently.

 

"Maybe you have a kink" Ichigo says, voice slightly rough. He curls his fingers and intertwines them with pale ones. Rubbing his thumb against Lucky's hand, he watches the way the black haired males mouth falls open.

 

It takes exactly zero point five seconds for Lucky's face to turn a bright, cherry red. His eyes widen, cheeks flush, he fumbles for his words, turns his gaze awkwardly to the side and tries to pull his hand out of Ichigo's. "Uh" He fumbles, "That's-" He pauses, tugging at his hand, the tips of his ears turning an adorable red. "I don't, I just-" He closes his mouth shut with an audible click, cheeks puffing out in embarrassment.

 

Ichigo grins, tightening his grip on Lucky's hand. He pulls their intertwined hands towards his mouth and brushes his lips over the side of Lucky's hand, just to tease him.

 

"Ichigo…" Lucky gives out a soft, barely audible whine. His ears twitch and the blush across his face spreads down his neck. His teeth nibble into his bottom lip, tongue swiping over pink flesh - Ichigo stares, completely enthralled.

 

"Am I interrupting?" Rukia's voice breaks the two apart. Her voice is high, giddy in a way. She smiles slyly and raises a hand to cover her mouth when she giggles mischievously.

 

Lucky flinches, particularly jumps in his seat as he finally manages to pull his hand away from Ichigo's. He promptly then pulls the hood of his hoodie over his head and hides his burning face into the crooks of his elbows.

 

Ichigo stares at his now empty hand, chocolate brown eyes blinking owlishly. His left eyebrow twitches. "Rukia" He says, tone neutral, "Do you have any last wishes?"

 

Rukia's sly smile turns into a sharp grin. "Bring it on, lover boy."

 

\----

  


The next few weeks are… Weird, to say the least. Ichigo won't stop touching Lucky. At first it had been simple brushes, shoulders bumping, knees pressed against each other, knuckles grazing as they walked home. Then Ichigo and Uryuu had disappeared for a few days. After they both came back, Ichigo turned more… Touchy.

 

Now, it was Ichigo ruffling Lucky's hair, a tanned thumb rubbing softly against a pale cheek, hands intertwining on their way home. During breaks Ichigo would let Lucky play with his hands. Lucky had been hesitant at first, but then Ichigo had just grabbed his hand and rolled his eyes. At times, if they were sat outside, either on the rooftop or on the grass field, Ichigo would reach out and gently squeeze his thigh. Occasionally they'd sit in class and Ichigo would lean closer and wrap his hand around the side of his neck, hand warm and thumb rubbing against the soft spot just under Lucky's jaw. It has made him tense the first time around, now he used to it. And every single time they touched, Lucky would blush and turn into a stuttering mess.

 

This time was no different.

 

Warm hands settle on Lucky's waist, familiar fingers curl around his hips and tug him backwards against a hard chest. Cheeks flushing, Lucky stays still as Ichigo places his legs on each side of him, knees bent and thighs touching Lucky's sides. Ichigo wraps his arms around Lucky' s middles and nuzzles his face into the crook of the black haired males neck. He inhales deeply as his orange hair tickles Lucky's jaw.

 

It's lunch time, they're sat on the rooftop. Orihime has her legs thrown over Chad's lap, Uryuu is balancing a bento and a book on his knees beside them. Arisawa is feeding Orihime her lunch, lips pulled into a thin line. She shakes her head as Orihime babbles on about some new food invention that she came up with last night.

 

Lucky stares at the bandages wrapped around the orange haired females ankle. He flickers his gaze to Uryuu, the male has a nasty bruise on his right cheek. Chad's whole arm is wrapped up in bandages.

 

Rukia is nowhere in sight.

 

Lucky bites the inside of his cheeks as Ichigo runs the tip of his nose again his neck. He shivers when Ichigo exhales slowly, hot breath making his stomach flutter. Lucky shifts and pulls his knees up to his chest, placing his own hands over Ichigo's warm one's on his stomach. He tilts his head to the side and Ichigo hums lowly, almost as if in approval, and presses his lips lightly against Lucky's neck. It's a barely there touch, just a graze of warm lips, but it makes Lucky exhale a shaky breath.

  


"How's your eye?" Ichigo murmurs after a moment of silence. Lucky brings a hand up to his face and lets his fingers trace the dark bruise under his eye. "It's okay" he stays quietly, dropping his hand back down. Ichigo hums again, tightening his hold on Lucky and pulling him even closer into himself. Lucky's cheeks darken when Orihime turns to look at them, smile wide and cheeks flushed pink from the sun. She doesn't even bat an eyelash and returns back to her conversation with Arisawa as if she had seen nothing.

 

"Where's Rukia?" Lucky's voice is quiet, something between a whisper and a soft murmur. Ichigo doesn't answer. Instead, he nuzzles his face deeper into the crook of Lucky's neck and inhales deeply. He intertwines his tanned fingers with pale ones and squeezes the smaller hand wrapped around his larger one reassuringly.

  


\----

  


"I'm leaving. I don't know how long I'll be gone for."

 

The sun sets behind Karakura Town, sending everything into varying colours of orange. Ichigo’s hair sets ablaze, spiky hair fluttering as the wind breezes by sofly. He shifts, pulling at the strap of his backpack. He's staring off at the neighbouring houses, not being able to look Lucky in the eyes.

 

Lucky feels his stomach clench tight. A soft _"Oh"_ is all he can manage. He blinks rapidly, trying to stop his eyes from watering. His fingers curl tightly around the cotton material of his black shorts.

 

They stand in silence, mere steps away from each other. The lamppost between them flickers to life. Orihime, Uryuu and Chad are waiting on the far end of the road, all geared up.

 

Lucky swallows back the sudden lump in his throat. He shifts his gaze to his beat up converse and scrubs at his maroon eyes with the back of his fists. "You're stupid" Lucky bites out. "So, so, _so_ stupid."

  


Ichigo turns to him, brows furrowed. He doesn't say anything, even when Lucky walks towards him, eyes downcast as he grabs a fistful of Ichigo's purple shirt and pulls. "Do you-" Lucky's breath hitches in his throat, forehead pressing against Ichigo's chest, "Do you even know how that makes me feel?"

 

There's a pause. Ichigo can feel his shirt soak up from stray tears.

 

Lucky exhales a shaky breath, fingers trembling. "Why couldn't you just leave without telling me?" He asks, voice cracking. "Stupid, stupid, stupid Ichigo" He bashes a pale fist against a hard chest.

 

Ichigo slowly lifts his hand, fingers curling around Lucky's neck and thumb pressing into the soft spot just underneath the males jaw. He tilts the black haired males head and watches as tears run down flushed cheeks.

 

"I know" Ichigo murmurs, bringing his other hand up to cup a pale cheek. His chocolate brown orbs steadily take in Lucky's face, his small nose, his thin eyebrows, his long dark lashes. Ichigo's dark eyes drop towards pink lips and then flicker towards maroon orbs. Lucky sniffles, cheeks darkening, tips of his ears turning red. He bites into his bottom lip, nose twitching when Ichigo's warm and minty breath fans his face. Lucky watches breathlessly as Ichigo's eyes study his own with silent intensity, tanned thumb wiping away a stray tear.

 

Slowly, inexorably, Ichigo presses his lips to Lucky's. It’s soft and gentle and chaste and maybe there are no fireworks or sparks, but it’s better than that - it’s like a wave of warmth. Lucky stifles a surprised gasp. Just as he feels a rush of euphoric bliss envelop him, making his heart stutter, Ichigo draws away.

 

Lucky flutters his eyes open, too many emotions to name swirling in his maroon orbs. Ichigo smiles down at him, warm and soft and so kind, eyes black and pupils gold. 

 

And then he's gone.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.❞ - - Lemony Snicket

**_Chapter Four:_ **

  
  


Ichigo spends a whole month in the soul society. He battles Abarai Renji, fights Zaraki Kenpachi, ends up defeating Kuchiki Byakuya and somehow finds out how to unleash his Bankai. He saves Rukia, bids the soul society goodbye with his middle finger and takes his ragtag of a team back home. They're all beaten and bruised, covered in bandages but healing, moving forward with conviction. Ichigo forces Rukia to return back too _. "You fit with us better than you fit with them" - we're pack, come with us. stay with us.  _

 

The day they all return back to high school, Orihime is attacked by a sobbing Chizuru. Tatsuki is all over her case, worry filled glances, soft touches as she skims her fingers over Orihime's cuts and bruises. "No need to worry, Tatsuki" Orihime says, grinning brightly. "I'm okay." 

 

Tatsuki doesn't seem to buy it. 

 

Rukia is fawned over by a crying Keigo, Asano is rolling his eyes, smile in place as he greets Rukia back. "Welcome back, how was that camping trip of yours?" He asks. Rukia smiles wryly, "It was ok" she says. 

  
  


Ochi-Sensei pats Uryuu on the back and grins wolfishly at Chad, "I'm glad my two most studious students have come back to me." Uryuu sweat drops. 

 

And as the class settles and everyone gets to their seats, Ichigo's eyes flicker across the classroom intent on finding Lucky. When he doesn't, he turns his gaze to the clock above Ochi-Sensei's desk. He watches the handles move, listens to constant  _ tick, tick, tick _ of the clock and when Ochi-Sensei starts taking the register, Ichigo moves his gaze to the empty desk in front of him. 

 

Normally, Lucky would have been in class by now, hood over his head, arms sprawled across his desk, a barely audible _ "morning Ichigo" _ leaving his lips as he would nuzzle his face into his arms. 

 

And yet, there was no sight of him. 

 

"Akumaki Lucky?" Ochi-Sensei calls from the front, raising her head, pen hovering over the papers in her hands. She stares at the empty desk in front of Ichigo and sighs lowly. "Looks like I'm going to have to mark him as tardy again…" She lowers her head, scribbles something onto her papers and returns to calling out names. 

 

Ichigo feels an uncomfortable weight settle into the pit of his stomach. 

  
  


\----

 

Lucky doesn't show up the next day. Or the day after that. And when Ichigo walks into class Thursday morning and sees the desk in front of his still empty, he turns on his heels and walks back out. 

 

Ichigo had tried to call Lucky a few times, but the line had always sent him to voicemail. He had even sent multiple text messages and received no replies. Finger hovering above the familiar phone number, Ichigo clutches his phone tightly in his hand and walks out of school grounds. 

 

Orihime sends him a simple text message. 

 

healer: we'll cover for you :) 

 

Ichigo smiles and sends her a text back. 

 

SS reaper: thanks

 

He pauses and then, 

 

SS reaper: make sure everyone is okay during lunch 

 

healer: of course ^^

 

\----

 

It takes less than twenty minutes for Ichigo to end up in Lucky's neighbourhood. It's an odd place, filled with old drunks and single parents. The houses are small, bleak and gray. They all have tiny, little gardens with large sheds outside. The doors are all plastic, a muted blue. Numbers on doors are nonexistent down here. Instead, houses are known by what they have outside them. Trash bags, an overly skinny, ginger cat, one of the doors is all scratched up, another is covered in speckles of a dull, red substance. Wrinkling his nose, Ichigo realises that it's blood. He keeps walking down the road. 

 

This early in the morning, the neighbourhood is oddly quiet and empty. 

 

Ichigo shivers, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks. While the last few days had been nice and warm, today had ended up being exceptionally cold. Lifting his gaze, Ichigo frowns at the gray clouds above him. It would no doubt be raining soon.

  
  


Finally reaching the door he knows as Lucky's, Ichigo exhales and watches as the puff of white air swirls in front of his face. He flickers his gaze down to the door mat, its old and the 'Welcome' sign written over it is barely recognizable. There's a cat flat at the bottom of the door, but the hinges are sealed in and the cat flap won't open. Raising his hand, Ichigo knocks on the door twice. He waits for a few minutes and then knocks again. When he receives no answer, Ichigo knocks again, this time more loudly. Grumbling, he peaks in through the foggy window beside the door and squints his eyes. The living room looks good as empty. Feeling irritated, Ichigo grits his teeth and turns on his heels to leave. 

 

When his gaze catches the shed in the back, he pauses. Chocolate brown orbs stare at the sheds door and the little opening that it gives away. Feeling his skin crawl and his instincts scream at him, Ichigo walks into the garden, shoes making crunching sounds as he walks over dried grass and old leaves. 

 

His presses his palm flat against the wooden door and slowly pushes it open. Light floods into the shed and Ichigo blinks, lowering his gaze-

 

Ichigo's eyes widen at the sight in front of him. 

 

There, on the sheds floor is… Lucky. Barely covered by a thin, discoloured sheet. 

 

Ichigo's mouth suddenly runs dry. 

 

Lucky's black hair is matted against his pale forehead, body curled in on itself, legs covered in giant, black and brown bruises. There's dry blood on the side of his face, around his fingertips and on his thighs. There's blood underneath the other side of his head, still running, still glistening brightly. His chest is barely moving. Ichigo can just make out the faintest of breaths. 

  
  


_ "Don't.. Don't look" _ Lucky's voice is hoarse, scratchy, and so, so,  _ so _ quiet. Only one of his eyes is open, the other one is too swollen. Half of his body is shrouded by the darkness from the shed. 

 

He looks small. Fragile. 

 

_ Broken.  _

 

Ichigo startles, fingers twitching, mouth opening, skin pricking, something in his chest burns, his stomach churns, eyes flicker from their usual brown to black and gold-

 

"Don't look!" Lucky yells, voice cracking as his fingers twist in the sheet, body curling further into itself and black hair falling over maroon coloured eyes. He pulls the thin sheet closer to his face, stifling a hiss as he bumps his arm against the ground. 

 

Ichigo's exhale is long, drawn out and shaky. 

 

He pushes his legs forwards, steps inside the shed, shrugs his gray blazer off and gently pulls it over Lucky's now quaking form. Lucky flinches, whole body jostling at the contact. 

 

Ichigo pulls away, leaning against the wall behind him as he sits down. Fishing out his phone from his back pocket, Ichigo dials his father's number. 

 

By the time he's finished with his phone call, knuckles white from how tight he's clenching his fists, his eyes change back to their normal brown. 

 

\----

 

Ichigo spends the next few days or so on edge. He tells Orihime and Rukia the truth, tells them how he had found Lucky in the shed, barely breathing, barely alive and how his house had been empty. He tells that about broken ribs, a sprained elbow and a bleeding ear. When Rukia asks about the ear, Ichigo tells her someone must have forcibly pulled out Lucky's helix piercings. Orihime's voice is soft, quiet in the hallway beside their classroom, "Humans are terrible," she says. 

 

"Do you know of anyone who could have…?" Rukia trails off, eyes flickering over Ichigo's shoulder as she sees Uryuu and Chad approach. 

 

Ichigo drops his gaze to his shoes. "No" He says, "I never even asked who he was living with."

 

"It could have easily been a family member, that's… That's how it usually happens in this world, doesn't it?" Rukia asks, lowering her voice into a murmur as Orihime engages Uryuu and Chad into a quick conversation about their morning math test. 

  
  


Ichigo's expression turns sour. "Usually" He says, voice tight as he nods his head. He curls his hands into fists and shoves them into the pockets of his gray slacks. His feels his chest burn. "I'm pissed off about the fact that I can't even see him" He gnaws at his bottom lip, chocolate brown orbs darkening as he takes a few steps down the hallway. Rukia follows his lead, one step behind him. 

  
  


They turn the corner onto an empty hallway and Ichigo instantly sags against a wall, head tipping back and eyes closing. "I want to see him…" He flutters his eyes open after a few seconds, voice something between a murmur and a whisper. "Even just for a little while."

 

Rukia shifts from one foot to another. "He's at your clinic and your dad's taking care of him. He's not letting you see him… Probably because you'd cause a riot. I'm actually surprised you haven't started one yet."

 

Ichigo eyes the black haired girl. Snorting, he opens his mouth. "Exactly.  _ Yet." _

 

Rukia smiles, small and wry. She crosses her arms over her chest, "C'mon lover boy, let's return to the others before they start getting suspicious."

 

Leaning off the wall, Ichigo nods his head. "Right."

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝I miss you in waves and tonight I’m drowning. You left me fending for my life and it feels like you’re the only one who can bring me back to the shore alive.❞ - - Denice Envall

**_Chapter Five:_ **

 

By the time Monday rolls around again, and the school day comes and goes, Lucky finally awakes. He's been asleep for days, chest heaving, mumbling incoherent words - Ichigo remembers his dad saying something about how Lucky's brain was probably shoving his memories of the earlier problematic event behind a wall. Perhaps locking it into an imaginary box, like his own mind was protecting him. Then again, his dad had also said that Lucky could remember every little thing and could quite possibly run into a case of PTSD. Ichigo did not like the sound of either of those. Nor did he like the fact that Lucky was so undeniably thin, ribs poking out of his chest, elbows jutting out at awkward angles and collar bones sticking out.

 

There, sitting on the infirmary bed, Lucky looks small. Like a child. Skin pale and sweaty, black hair curly and matted around his face like a dark halo, chest rising steadily with even, little breathes. His fingers twitch, maroon eyes wide and alert as Ichigo places a tray filled with food onto the bedside table. "I got you some food" Ichigo murmurs after a moment of silence.

 

Lucky eyes him like he doesn't trust him.

 

Ichigo feels his chest tighten as he scoots his chair slightly further away and falls into it, legs stretching out against the floor, one hand in his lap the other running through his orange hair. He scratches at his scalp, lips forming his usual scowl.

 

"You should eat" Ichigo says, shifting so both his hands are in his lap.

 

Lucky's eyes narrow ever so slightly. He doesn't move for the food nor does he say anything in return. He simply pulls his legs up into his chest and wraps his arms around them. Settling his face into his knees, he eyes Ichigo with an unnerving gaze.

 

Ichigo sighs quietly, lowering his gaze to the bandages around Lucky's chest and then to the bandages wrapped around a sprained elbow. He flickers his gaze back up to a not so swollen eye anymore. Ichigo's scowl deepens as he turns his gaze slightly to the side to gaze at Lucky's ear. It's healed now, but there are two little pale scars across his cartilage. An everlasting memory of whoever had injured Lucky.

 

Feeling his chest burn and his skin prickle, Ichigo stands to his feet. He clears his throat, "I'll come see you in the morning before school."

 

Lucky doesn't reply.

 

Ichigo leaves to go back up into his own room.

 

\----

  


The next morning isn't any different. Ichigo walks into the infirmary room, places some breakfast onto the bedside table and eyes the still filled tray of food from last night. He gnaws as his bottom lip as he picks the tray up, shifting as he turns to face Lucky.

 

The male is sat the same way as yesterday. Knees pressed against his chest, arms wrapped around his legs and face settled into his knees. He eyes Ichigo with the same unnerving maroon gaze. Lucky is still shirtless, dressed in only a pair of black, cotton shorts.

 

Eyeing the littering bruises on Lucky's legs, Ichigo's jaw clenches as he leaves without a word.

 

He comes back a few minutes later, his own clothes in his hands; a deep purple pullover hoodie with some gray cotton shorts. Ichigo settles them on the edge of the bed. He pretends to not notice the way Lucky tenses, head ducking and eyes narrowing.

 

"You can borrow some of my clothes to change into" Ichigo says, chocolate brown orbs shifting to the still untouched breakfast. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks, "I'll see you after school."

 

When Ichigo gets no reply in turn, he leaves.

 

\----

 

Sighing, Ichigo shifts until he's sprawled against the grass field underneath him. He throws an arm over his closed eyes, scowling as he blocks himself from the shining sun above him.

 

Orihime moves beside him, hand reaching out to pet his spiky orange hair. Ichigo let's her. "There, there" Orihime whispers, lips turning up into a soft smile as she threads her fingers through orange locks.

 

Ichigo turns on his side, pressing his face into Orihime's waist. She laughs sweetly, petting his hair like one would pet a dogs fur. Smiling, Ichigo presses his nose further into Orihime's side and inhales deeply. She smells nice, like honey and cookies and something, _something_ a little darker. Ichigo grumbles, inhaling her scent again. He can hear Rukia talking to Tatsuki and Chizuru, Uryuu is fighting off a crying Keigo and Asano is quietly keeping somewhat of a conversation with Chad.

 

It's lunch time, and while they would usually be up on the rooftop by now, they had all decided that maybe today they could spend their lunch out on the grass field.

 

Something warm and fluffy suddenly presses against Ichigo's cheek and he scowls, pulling his head away from Orihime. He lowers his gaze and blinks when he finds Yoruichi, half standing on the grass and half standing on Orihime's thigh. Her little cat head is tilted to the side, nose twitching as she sniffs and closes her golden eyes. Yoruichi purrs softly, moving forward as she juts her head softly against the underside of Ichigo's jaw.

 

"What are you doing?" Ichigo mutters, lowering his voice. He narrows his eyes at Orihime who hides a chuckle behind her hand.

 

"You smell like another cat" Yoruichi says, voice deep and gravelly, so unlike her real female form.

 

Ichigo's brow twitches. "I don't hang around with any other cats" He grumbles. Shifting, he pushes himself up to sit and clicks his tongue when Yoruichi jumps onto his lap. The cat raises itself, presses its front paws against his chest and nuzzles its little cat head against the side of his cheek. Yoruichi's black fur is featherlight and soft. Ichigo let's her nuzzle his face and pretends to be annoyed, even when he brings his hand around to pet her.

 

"What do you mean, Yoruichi?" Orihime tilts her head to the side, dark orange hair falling over her shoulder. The sun shines over her face and the blue clips in her hair glitter to life.

 

Yoruichi doesn't answer straight away, too busy purring softly. Ichigo's scowl deepens, tanned fingers running through soft black fur. When Yoruichi swipes a tongue against the underside of his jaw, Ichigo grabs her by the back of her neck and pulls her off. He eyes the black cat with narrowed eyes. "Licking is where I draw the line with you."

 

Yoruichi sniffs loudly as Ichigo settles her back down into his lap. She licks her paw instead.

 

"Well?" Ichigo asks, left eyebrow twitching as he waits for the cat to answer. Golden eyes flicker up to his and narrow. "You've got another cat's scent on you" Yoruichi says, turning in her spot until her face is on Ichigo's thigh and the rest of her cat body is between his legs on the grass. "Why should I tell you the rest when you're obviously cheating on me?"

 

Orihime laughs, reaching out to pet black fur. "I'm sure it wasn't on purpose," she teases.

 

Ichigo scratches Yoruichi just behind her ears and grins when the black cat leans into his touch and purrs loudly. "I'm sorry" He apologizes, "it was an accident" he plays along.

 

"Alright" Yoruichi says in her deep, gravelly voice. She flutters her golden eyes closed, cat nose pressing further into Ichigo's thigh. Orihime pets her head, blunt nails scratching the spot just between her ears. Tail swishing lazily, Yoruichi opens her mouth, "The scent is… A

A mix. It's not entirely human, even if it does sort of smell like that; Vanilla, " she pauses, nose twitching, "and cherries. It's mostly a cat smell."

 

"Oh!" Orihime's brown eyes widen and she pads her fist onto her open palm, "Lucky sort of smells like Vanilla, right?"

 

Ichigo tenses, tanned fingers pausing in black fur. Yoruichi's tail flicks, golden eyes meeting those of chocolate brown as she raises her head. "Who's Lucky?" she asks.

 

"Just… someone" Ichigo trails off, tipping his head back to look at the cloudless blue sky above him.

 

Yoruichi turns her head and pretends to meow when Keigo looks towards them. Orihime returns to petting the black cat in Ichigo's lap, smiling softly as she babbles on about one subject or the other.

  


\----

  


Turning in his bed, Ichigo cracks one single eye open. He stares at his alarm clock, squinting his eyes at the bright green numbers. '03:04am' it reads. Ichigo groans, closes the eye that he had creaked open and stuffs his face back into his pillow.

 

He had come late back home. A few low level hollows were scouting the streets of Karakura Town and by the time Ichigo had finished fighting them off, it had been somewhere around eleven o'clock. He hadn't even went down to the infirmary to check up on Lucky. Sighing heavily into his pillow, Ichigo pushes himself to sit up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. He blinks, eye sight bleary as he takes in the familiar sight of his bedroom. Grumbling, he scrubs his hands over his eyes and then runs a single hand through his orange hair.

 

Standing to his feet, Ichigo trips over a textbook on the floor and curses quietly at it. Shaking his head, he walks across him room, opens the door and gently closes it behind him. He looks down both ways of the hallway and then slowly makes his way down it. He walks down the stairs, careful of the steps that creak and before he knows it he's pushing the door to the infirmary open.

 

Moonlight shines in through the window and illuminates the room in a dull light. Ichigo let's the door close itself behind him, chocolate brown orbs instantly falling onto Lucky.

 

The black haired male is asleep, snoring ever so softly. The sheets are twisted around his pale legs and his arms are loosely wrapped around his only pillow. Ichigo smiles when he sees that Lucky is wearing his clothes. The purple hoodie is overly baggy on Lucky and the gray shorts reach a little too past his knees, but he looks comfortable. He mumbles something, words inchoret as he nuzzles his cheek into the pillow. His nose twitches, mouth opening slightly.

 

 _Fuck. That's cute._ Ichigo feels his cheeks flush.

 

He averts his gaze and rubs the back of his neck. He should leave. He's come down, checked upon Lucky and now he should be leaving to get back up into his own bed. Except… Ichigo doesn't want to.

 

He scowls, scrubbing his hands down his face. Ichigo peaks through the gaps between his fingers, feeling like an idiot. He carefully walks to the side of Lucky's bed, breath catching in his throat as he overlooks Lucky's form. He swipes his tongue over his lips, chocolate brown eyes darkening.

 

Ichigo's fingers twitch with the need to touch. His chest burns and before he knows it his fingers are hovering over curly black hair. He hesitates, gaze flickering over pale features; the small nose, the round cheeks, the long dark lashes. Lucky is beautiful. At least, to Ichigo he is. Exhaling a steady breath, Ichigo cradles his fingers through thick, black locks. He gently pets Lucky's hair, tanned fingers working out stray knots.

 

Lucky shifts in his sleep, mouth closing as he sighs quietly. He murmurs something too softly for Ichigo to understand and then starts making quiet, little cat-like purring noises.

 

Ichigo's lips fall into a soft smile, blunt nails scratching against Lucky's scalp. He moves his hand, fingers trailing against an unmarked neck. Lucky whimpers. The sound of it sends shivers down Ichigo's spine. The burn in his chest intensifies. He swallows thickly, his mouth suddenly running dry. Ichigo curls his fingers around Lucky's pale neck, tanned thumb pressing into the soft spot just underneath the black haired males jaw. Lucky whines, the sound barely audible. It makes Ichigo inhale a shaky breath.

 

He squeezes his fingers around the side of Lucky's neck, thumb brushing softly against the same spot under the males jaw. Lucky's mouth falls open, a breathless moan leaving his mouth.

 

Ichigo swiftly pulls his hand away as if he'd just been burned, eyes wide and cheeks flushed red. His heart hammers behind his ribcage. He fumbles as he quickly leaves the room, embarrassed and undeniably in the need of a cold shower.

  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝We have to allow ourselves to be loved by the people who really love us, the people who really matter. Too much of the time, we are blinded by our own pursuits of people to love us, people that don't even matter, while all that time we waste and the people who do love us have to stand on the sidewalk and watch us beg in the streets! It's time to put an end to this. It's time for us to let ourselves be loved.❞
> 
> C. JoyBell C.

_**Chapter Six:** _

Ichigo tumbles through his window, orange hair a tangled mess, muscles aching, shoulders weighed down by a heavy invisible force. He stumbles into him room, pausing for a second as his eyes fall onto the curled up human being underneath his bed covers. Rukia comes in afterwards, movements slurred but a lot more graceful than Ichigo's own. She's holding Kone by the back of the stuffed toy's neck, lips pulled down into a scowl as Kone tries to wriggle his way out of her grasp. Rukia whispers some sort of threat to him, a promise that she will hurt him, no doubt, and Kone goes lucid in her grip. She smirks triumphantly.

 

Ichigo watches the black haired girl for a few more seconds, watches the way she settles Kone onto his desk and then watches the way she starts rummaging through his hamper. She pulls out a shirt, sniffs at it and then deems it good enough to wear for the night to sleep in. When she starts changing out of her clothes, Ichigo carefully sits down on the edge of his bed, lips turning up into a soft smile. Chocolate brown orbs flicker towards his alarm clock; _'04:13am'_ it reads. He places one hand against his knee and reaches out the other one towards the human bundle under his covers. Tanned fingers pull the white covers slowly away.

 

Ichigo laughs quietly when he's met with the sight of Lucky. His black hair falls around his face in messy curls, random tufts of hair standing out at awkward angles. His face is squished into Ichigo's pillow. The heavy weight across Ichigo's shoulders gradually eases out, almost if it had never been there in the first place. He gazes at Lucky and takes in the round cheeks, the long, dark lashes and the slightly parted pink lips. Ichigo flickers his gaze lower to an unmarked pale neck and swipes a tongue over his bottom lip hungrily.

 

Ichigo is a good person. Okay. Maybe he _isn't_. But he damn sure tries to be. He's good to his sisters, he's good to his father, he's good to all his friends and _damn it_ he's good to strangers too. He _knows_ something isn't right with him, he _knows_. Ichigo has been talking to that damn _hollow_ inside him for _years_ and hiding it from _everyone_ possible. Okay, maybe calling Shiro a damn hollow wasn't right. Besides, Shiro, just like Zangestu, was a part of _him._ Right? They were sort of… friends. Weren't they?

 

After all, Shiro _had_ been the one who told Ichigo to not let anyone touch Lucky. It had been a furious hiss in the back of his mind, _'that's ours! don't let anyone else touch him!'_ And Ichigo had done just that. No questions asked. He had slapped hands away, glared at oncoming classmates and other students, growled at Keigo to _back off._ Like… Like Lucky _actually_ belonged to him.

 

There was _definitely_ something wrong with him. Ichigo _knew_ it.

 

Constantly staring at Lucky's neck and wanting to _bite_ and _claim_ and leave _marks_ was _not_ normal. Wanting to taste Lucky on his tongue. Wanting to touch and leave his scent behind. Wanting to see those pink lips stretched around his cock and his cum painted across flushed cheeks or milky coloured thighs-

 

Ichigo was left fully _wanting_.

 

His fingers twitch. Ichigo is moving his hand before he even knows it, tanned fingers curling around the side of Lucky's pale throat. Ichigo pauses when Lucky sucks in a short breath, nose twitching. Shifting, Ichigo tightens his grip and presses his thumb into the soft spot just underneath Lucky's jaw. He's rewarded with instant breathless moan. Ichigo soaks the sound up like a sponge.

 

It's oddly silent for a few seconds. Then there's a scuffle to his side. Ichigo turns his head to see Rukia rummaging through his closet. He had forgotten about her. _Shit,_ he curses inwardly. She pulls out a towel, walks towards him and holds it out. It's light blue and fluffy. Ichigo's favourite, if he's being honest.

 

"Do you _always_ have to interrupt?" He grumbles, clearly annoyed.

 

Rukia stares down at him with mirth in her eyes. She nudges the towel closer to him, prompting him to take it.

 

"Take a shower, lover boy" She says snidely, one side of her lips pulling up into a half smirk as she wiggles her eyebrows at him mischievously. She lowers her gaze and Ichigo follows it down to his lap.

 

Ichigo sighs, long and tired. He retreats his hand from Lucky, albeit reluctantly, grabs the towel with a scowl and heads towards the bathroom for a quick shower.

 

He pretends to not hear the way Rukia tries to and fails to hide her little snickers, the door to his closet sliding closed as she finally settles into the nest she had built in there from the first time he had met her.

 

\----

  


Letting out a deep, guttural moan, Ichigo comes. His chest heaves, shoulders shake, eyes fall half lidded. He watches the translucent white fluid run from his fingers and drop down into the drain. Hot water sprays against his chest, the shower head releases its timer warning for the last five minutes and Ichigo knocks his head against the tiled wall in front of him with a heavy thump. He waits for a moment, let's the warmth of the water bring him back to the world from his high and then quickly scrubs himself down. The water shuts itself off, Ichigo towels his body, changes into his pajama shorts and leaves the towel hanging around his neck.

 

He stares at the fogged up mirror above the sink for an odd second and then swipes his hand across it to clear it up. His face stares back at him. Chocolate brown eyes, thin orange brows, ever present scowl and dripping wet orange hair. Ichigo brings the towel back up to his head and rubs it across his orange hair to dry it a little quicker.

 

When he returns to his bedroom, light blue towel hanging around his neck and hair still somewhat wet, his eyes instantly land on his bed.

 

Lucky is awake, black hair a complete and adorable mess, balled fists rubbing at his eyes as he shifts into a sitting position with his knees pressed down against the bed. He's dressed in one of Ichigo's purple shirts. Lucky settles a hand slowly onto his lap, the other one gently brushes against the soft spot underneath his jaw. His maroon coloured eyes flutter open, gaze falling onto Ichigo across the room.

 

Ichigo's chest burns. He swallows as he digs his nails into the side of his thigh.

 

"Hey" He says. His voice sounds a bit too low, even to his own ears.

 

Lucky stares at him for a long moment and then opens his mouth. "... Hi" He says, clearly hesitant. His voice is too quiet and a little scratchy. It's obvious he hasn't used it for days.

 

Ichigo feels immediate relief upon hearing it. He releases a relieved sigh he didn't know he was holding in and walks across the room until he's standing at the side of his bed, hooving right over Lucky's sitting form. He reaches out a hand, tanned fingers gently pulling away the pale hand still at Lucky's neck.

 

Lucky stares up at him, neck craned and maroon eyes blinking owlishly. The burn inside Ichigo's chest intensifies.

 

 _"Don’t"_ Ichigo murmurs, voice too quiet and too soft. Lucky drops his hand to join his other one on his lap. Searching into maroon coloured eyes, Ichigo curls his fingers against the side of Lucky's neck once more. Lucky visibly tenses underneath his touch. Ichigo still brings his thumb to the same spot underneath Lucky's jaw and presses his thumb right into it. He watches the way Lucky's mouth falls open, lips parting to releases a mewl as his whole body goes lax.

 

Ichigo takes in the sight, completely enthralled. He leans closer, until he's sat on the edge of the bed again and his face is mere centimetres away from Lucky's. "Don't _ever_ cover up _my_ scent." His voice comes out in a quiet growl, chocolate coloured orbs boring straight into maroon. He tightens his grip around the side of Lucky's neck in a silent warning. Ichigo is rewarded with a barely there whine and furiously, red flushed cheeks.

  


The door to the closet sliding open has them both slowly turning towards the sound.

 

Rukia pokes her head out, black hair slightly messy and lips stretched out into a wolfish grin. Her eyes flicker with something akin to amusement. "Could you two keep it down? I'm trying to get my beauty sleep."

 

With a growl, Ichigo grabs the nearest pillow and flings it across the room as soon as the female closes her mouth. Rukia yelps and quickly slides the closet door closed. The pillow bounces off the closet and falls onto the floor.

 

Ichigo's left eyebrow twitches.

 

Lucky sighs quietly, turning his gaze to the side awkwardly. Ichigo's hand is still wrapped around the side of his neck, thumb still pressed to the same spot. Lucky pretends not to notice. Even when Ichigo turns back and pushes him down against the bed, muttering something about catching at least two hours of sleep before school.

 

Lucky sleeps with Ichigo facing him, noses slightly touching and a tanned hand still curled around a pale neck. It's oddly comfortable.

 

\----

 

The next morning, Ichigo steps into the kitchen dragging both Rukia and Lucky behind him.

 

His father doesn't bat an eye, merely grins and waves around his hands in an excited manner. Isshin is already dressed in his long, white Doctor coat and Ichigo merely rolls his eyes when he starts wiggling his thick, black eyebrows. "Must have been quite the night, Ichigo" He snides, voice toned in a too well known crude way. He clutches at the spot just above his heart. "He's growing so fast!" He exclaims, tears already rolling down his cheeks dramatically.

 

Karin rolls her dark eyes, scowl so similar to Ichigo's own as she takes her seat behind the dining table. "Cut it out, old man" she says, twisting her nose.

 

Yuzu giggles, head tilting to the side as she smiles brightly at Ichigo. "Good morning" she says, voice soft as she places breakfast onto the table.

 

"Morning" Ichigo mutters, taking his seat opposite Karin. Lucky shuffles into the seat beside him and Rukia plops herself down beside Isshin. The two instantly start talking about how Ichigo is finally becoming a real man.

 

"He's never been so rebellious-"

 

"I'll tell you everything that happened-"

 

Ichigo pretends they don't exist.

 

Even when Rukia leans closer to Isshin, lips curled up into a devious smirk. "Last night, I heard them-" 

Ichigo promptly kicks her under the table. 

 

Rukia yelps. 

 

"Did you all sleep well last night?" Yuzu asks, finally taking a seat as well. She smiles at Lucky who ducks his head, the tips of his ears turning red. He fiddles with the sleeve of Ichigo's borrowed purple hoodie and slowly raises his head back up. Yuzu seems nice, she has doe like eyes and very short brown hair. There's a pink clip holding back a few strands of her hair and Lucky stares at it for a few seconds before he ducks his head again with a small nod.

 

"That's good then" Yuzu smiles again, shifting her gaze to Ichigo who leans his chin into the palm of his hand. He looks tired. His orange hair is more unkempt than usual and there are dark circles under his eyes. Yuzu worries her bottom lip, but doesn't say anything.

 

Instead, Karin opens her mouth. "You look bad" She says as she reaches for some toast. She cramps it into her mouth, dark eyes flickering to the clock on the far wall. She restlessly taps her foot again the floor. She flickers her gaze back to her older brother, scowl deepening and thin, black brows furrowing. She jerks her chin, obviously waiting for an answer. Her black hair moves with her, the ends tickling her jaw.

 

Ichigo merely hums in reply, chin leaned into the palm of his hand. "Karin, Yuzu, this is my classmate Lucky. Lucky, this is Karin and that's Yuzu; my younger twin sisters" He says, voice nonchalant and eyes staring above Karin's head with the air of blissful ignorance.

 

"Uh" Lucky fumbles, shifting in his seat. "It's… Nice to meet you" He mumbles, feeling somewhat awkward.

 

"Ah!" Yuzu's eyes sparkle. "You're Ichi-nii's boyfriend, right?"

 

It takes exactly zero point five seconds for Lucky's face to flush bright red. "Thats-" Lucky fumbles with his words, maroon eyes shifting to the side and hands raising to cover his face. "I-" He stutters lamely, covering his burning face with his pale hands. His heart hammers behind his ribcage. His mouth moves but no words come out.

 

"He's not" Ichigo says, standing to his feet. _"Yet."_ He points out, shooting a cheeky grin down at Lucky who peaks through his fingers.

 

Leaning down, Ichigo presses a kiss into Lucky's curly black hair. "I'll see you after school" He says, leaning back to take in the sight of Lucky nibbling into his bottom lip, cheeks red and ears twitching. 

 

"Okay" Lucky breathes out, gaze shifting to the side as he fiddles with the sleeves of the borrowed purple hoodie again. 

 

Yuzu coos from the side as Ichigo tells Rukia to hurry up. They're already late for homeroom. No doubt Ochi-Sensei is already half way through the register. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //I'm sorry I'm so late with the update :(


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Town Without Me. An essay by Kayo Hinazuki.
> 
> “When I get bigger, big enough to go somewhere by myself, I want to go to a land that’s far away. I want to go to a faraway island. I want to go to a island that has no people. I want to go to an island that has no pain or sadness. There are no adults, children, classmates, teachers or my mom on that island. On that island, I can climb a tree when I want to climb, swim in the sea when I want to swim, and sleep when I want to sleep. On the island, I think about the town that I left behind. Kids go to school, as if nothing has changed. Adults go to the office, as if nothing has changed. Mom eats, as if nothing has changed. When I think about the town without me, I feel a sense of relief. I want to go far, far away.”
> 
> From the anime; ERASED.

**_Chapter Seven:_ **

 

Orihime is perhaps the first to notice. Or at least, she believes she is. 

Ichigo is _weird_. He usually is. But the day Akumaki Lucky walks through the door… Ichigo is _even_ weirder. He's overly touchy with the black haired male, wandering hands and quiet remarks, there's even lips ghosting against pale skin accompanied by barely there breathless moans. 

If people get too close… Well, Ichigo is there to fend them off. 

It's obvious Ichigo has thoroughly fallen for Lucky. 

And perhaps even vise versa. 

The day they leave for soul society, she clutches her hands to her chest, browns furrowed and lips biting down at her lips. The sun's sets behind Karakura town, Chad shifts from one foot to another and Uryuu leans against a nearby lamppost. Orihime's anxiety skyrockets when the lamppost starts flickering to life. She can just make out the silhouettes of both Ichigo and Lucky in the distance. 

"He's taking too long," Uryuu mutters, he turns his head to look and his glasses glint. 

Chad hums. "Let Ichigo have this" He says, voice low and deep as always. 

Orihime curls her hands into fists, she watches the two males with narrowed, keen eyes. Lucky weakly pounds his fists against Ichigo's chest - Orihime's stomach twists, _c'mon Ichigo do it, do it, do it_ \- and then, Ichigo kisses Lucky. 

Something settles inside Orihime. It's sings, so beautifully and so loudly. She feels something burn deeply inside her chest. She ignores it for the time being, concentrates on the way Uryuu pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a smirk and how Chad ducks his head with a smile, his large hand is pressed against the middle of his chest. Orihime fist bumps the air and releases a cheer with a wide grin. 

Later, when they return back home from the soul society, Rukia in tow… There's a _sudden_ shift. 

Lucky returns to school one day. Orihime notices the bandages under his sleeves but doesn't say anything. There's an ugly, new looking bruise that's settled on his left cheek. She doesn't get close either. Ichigo is there, just a few steps - _deliberate steps_ \- behind Lucky. 

Orihime waves at them from her seat, but only Ichigo waves back. 

 

Lucky sits at his desk and completely hunches in on himself. 

 

Rukia then walks into class and when Orihime catches her gaze, the soul reaper gnaws at her bottom lip and clenches her fists so tightly they turn white. 

Something is terribly wrong. Orihime knows that much. 

Ichigo bumps his shoulder against Rukia's, a silent warning, and she curtly nods her head before she settles herself into her seat. 

Ichigo sits behind his own desk and instead of staring at the back of Lucky's head, like he usually does, he instead tips his chair backwards so it balances on the last two legs and gazes at the ceiling above him. 

Ochi-Sensei doesn't tell him off. 

Orihime suspects it's because she doesn't have the heart to. 

\----

Lunch time arrives and while Uryuu and Chad head to the rooftop along with everyone else, Ichigo settles himself under the cool shade of a tree down at the grass field. The sun is high up in the sky today and there are no clouds in sight. Orihime spreads out a thin, purple blanket across the grass and Ichigo rolls himself onto it. He presses his face into the soft material and listens to the sounds of Orihime sitting down beside him and Rukia sitting across them. He inhales the scent of honey and cookies, takes in the darker tones of something he can't quite place and then shifts until he's staring up above into the canopy of the tree. 

Orihime reaches out to thread her fingers through his spiky, orange hair and he closes his eyes with a sigh. 

"Lucky… He left the classroom pretty quickly," Orihime says quietly, voice hesitant. 

Ichigo keeps his eyes closed, his chest moves with each breath he takes and he grumbles when Orihime pulls her hand away from his hair. She mutters a small apology and then goes back to moving her fingers nimbly through his hair. 

Rukia clicks her tongue from where she's sat. "He was doing better," she grits her teeth. Ichigo can imagine the face she's making, lips pursed and brows furrowed, eyes narrowed in anger. He can hear the way her fingers crack when she clenches both her hands into fists again. 

Orihime pauses in her petting for a second, shifts so that she's sitting more comfortably and then returns to petting Ichigo's hair. Her voice is but a mere whisper when she opens her mouth, "What happened?" 

It's silent for an odd moment. Ichigo can hear the gritting sound Rukia makes with her teeth, can hear the way Orihime swallows down a lump in her throat-

He flutters his brown eyes open, blinks up at the green canopy and then throws an arm over his eyes. 

"I finally got to touch him again" Ichigo says. Orihime can't quite see the expression he's making, but his usual scowl is much deeper and there's something in his voice that just seems _off._

Orihime pulls her hand away from Ichigo's hair and settles it onto her lap. 

"I only left for a day or so, because of those bounts…" He shuts his mouth with an audible click. He doesn't open it again. 

"The only one at home at that time was Yuzu," Rukia pauses, shifting so she's sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, "We were all too busy fighting off those bounts. Ichigo's father was working at the hospital and Karin was at soccer practice."

Orihime nods her head, ushering Rukia on to continue. 

Rukia opens her mouth, "Someone came for Lucky. Yuzu said it had been a woman, she said she was Lucky's mother. Yuzu told us that she looked too young, but Lucky had willingly gone with her. Apparently he had looked scared out of his mind." She explains. 

"So that new bruise…" Orihime trails off. Whoever that woman was, she had taken Lucky and she had hurt him. That much was obvious. 

Ichigo suddenly moves, he turns onto his side and presses his face into Orihime's hip. He curls his arms around her waist and inhales her scent in deeply. 

"It's okay," Orihime murmurs, settling a hand on top of Ichigo's head. She doesn't sound convincing enough. 

 

"It's _not_ ," Ichigo grits out, voice muffled. "I just-" 

 

Whatever else he is about to say gets lodged inside his throat when Orihime softly scratches the spot just behind his ear. 

She understands. She knows. Ichigo cares about Lucky, so it must be hard for him. Ichigo likes to touch things that are his, that belong to him. It must be weird for him to have Lucky so close and yet so far, far away. 

She leans forward, her orange hair falls over her shoulders and topples onto Ichigo. Orihime presses her nose into Ichigo's orange hair, she inhales the familiar scent of warm cocoa and then smothers him in her own scent of honey and cookies. 

He doesn't complain. 

Not even when Rukia laughs at him and makes a snide remark. 

\----

Three whole days pass in the same manner. Lucky ignores Ichigo and everyone else connected to him. He sits alone. He walks alone. At break and lunch he disappears off somewhere. It's hard to track him down when he's hiding, or at least, that's what Uryuu says. 

Three days. It's been three days with Lucky pretending that Ichigo and Co. don't exist. 

Ichigo thinks he might be reaching his limit. He's kept his distance. He has. He _really_ has. He hasn't _looked_ , he hasn't _touched_ , he hasn't _scented_. 

And it's just about driving him crazy. 

When Lucky had shown up at the front gates of school, Ichigo had reached out to touch him and Lucky had flinched harshly, hunched his shoulders so far in until they were touching his cheeks. His maroon eyes were wide, blown with fear. He had clenched his hands around the strap of his bag, kept his gaze rooted to the side _, "Don't touch me,"_ he had said - particularly hissed, as if he hated Ichigo. 

And from there it had spiralled. 

The last bell of the day rings, signaling the end of school. Ichigo gatherers his books, listens in on the loud murmur of his classmates. He glances towards the door at the side, Lucky is already walking out if it. 

Students gather their things and head out the door, Orihime walks out with Rukia and Chad along with Uryuu follow after them. Asano drags Keigo out by the back of his shirt. 

Ichigo sighs, rolls his shoulders until he can hear a satisfying crack and then shoves his books into his bag. By the time he's slung his bag over his shoulder, the classroom is empty.

Safe for Ochi-Sensei. 

Ichigo glances at her and raises a thin, orange brown when she waves him over. 

"Something wrong?" He asks, walking towards his home room teacher. 

"Other than the obvious?" Ochi-Sensei asks, tilting her head to the side. 

 

Ichigo's stiffens. 

 

She watches him with perceptive dark eyes. Her long brown hair is up in a ponytail today. The edges of her mouth curl downwards as she takes off her glasses. She shuffles through the papers on her desk and then holds out a thin, old and wrinkled notebook. It's colour is worn out, but it's an obvious dull shade of what used to be a bright blue. 

"I talked to child services. Nearly bit their heads off." Ochi-Sensei almost growls. "They're damn _stupid_ and they keep saying there's _nothing_ wrong."

Ichigo's chest burns and his throat tightens. His fingers dig into the palms of his hands until he's drawing blood. He feels the explicit need to tear something apart. 

"I'm not supposed to tell you," Ochi-Sensei pauses, and her lips curl upwards until Ichigo can see the sharp teeth she has on each side of her mouth. "If you're going to hit _it_ Ichigo, hit _it_ until it breaks." She pushes the dull, blue notebook into his chest and Ichigo immediately curls his fingers around it. 

He stares at Ochi-Sensei, chocolate brown eyes swirling with too many emotions to name. 

She had called him by his first name. She was being serious. 

 

He doesn't say anything, merely nods his head and leaves. 

 

\----

 

Ichigo quickly goes up into his room. He yells down an answer to one of Yuzu's questions about dinner and then throws his school bag onto the floor. He sits on his desk chair and wheels it forwards until his legs are tucked underneath his desk. 

He moves his books off to the side, pushes his laptop and other things against the wall and stacks them so he has enough space. He ends up elbowing his pen and pencil stand onto the floor. 

Ichigo settles the old notebook onto his desk. His eyes flicker over the cover. It's wrinkly and the text at the top is hard to decipher. Ichigo blames it on the fact that the Japanese lettering is too loopy. He stares at the words for a while until it all clicks together. "Class Assignments of class 1-A, Toshima-Ku…?"

Tilting his head in thought, Ichigo pulls out his phone from one of his pockets and quickly enters his search into the search bar. He scrolls through the results, brown eyes flickering over his phone's screen. _Ah. So Toshima-Ku is an elementary school all the way in Ikebukuro…_? Ichigo frowns, blinking. 

 

Lucky was from Ikebukuro… Did that then mean…?

 

Ichigo quickly flips the blue notebook open. He flips through the first few pages until his eyes fall upon the index page. He moves his index finger down the names and page numbers, until his finger stops at Akumaki Lucky's name. He eyes the page number, hesitates for a split second and then rushes to find the page. 

Ichigo flips through the class assignments with renewed vigour and only stops when he finds the page he's looking for. 

There's a picture drawn at the side; of an island with just one little stick figure. Ichigo carefully and slowly runs the tips of his fingers along the drawing. 

Curious, he flickers his gaze back to the top of the sheet and starts reading. 

 

_A town without me - An essay by Akumaki Lucky._

_❝When I get older, old enough to go live somewhere by myself, I want to go to a land that’s far away. I want to go to an island that has no people. I want to go to an island that has no pain or sadness. There are no adults, children, classmates, teachers or my big sister on that island. On that island, I can climb a tree when I want to, swim in the sea when I want to, and sleep when I want to. On the island, I think about the town that I left behind. Kids go to school, as if nothing has changed. Adults go to the office, as if nothing has changed. My big sister eats, as if nothing has changed. When I think about the town without me, I feel a sense of relief.❞_

_❝I want to go far, far away.❞_

 

Ichigo's senses run into overdrive.

 

He's moving before he even knows it. 

 

//i'm sorry for the long wait T^T


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❝But we’re all like that, aren’t we? We’re all barbarians at our core. We’re all savage, murderous beasts. I know I am. I’m sure you are. The only difference between us, Mr Prave, is how loudly we roar. I know I roar very loudly indeed. How about you? Do you think you can match me?❞ - Derek Landy

**Chapter Eight:**

In hindsight, they all should have seen it coming. 

The soul society. The bounts. The mess with Lucky. 

Ichigo was a danger magnet. Both literally and figuratively. 

So when Ichigo rings Uryuu in the middle of the night, 02:27am to be precise, Uryuu squints at his phone and merely presses it to his ear. He hopes it isn't a stray hollow, or another bount. He's too drained for either of those. 

"Get out of town. I'm burning it to the ground." Ichigo's words are like a hot knife slicing through butter, smooth and terrifying. 

Uryuu feels fear clasp its hands around his heart and suddenly he's awake and alert. He sits upright, the covers falling off his shoulder and into his lap. He hesitates before he opens his mouth, "You know,'' Uryuu starts, holding his phone tightly, "you can solve your problems _without_ violence."

There's a pause on the other end of the phone. Uryuu digs his fingers into his thigh. He can hear the sound of metal clinking against metal and then a low growl. 

Ichigo is very, _very_ , capable of burning Karakura town down to the ground, _thank you very much._ In fact, Uryuu can just about imagine him standing on the outskirts of Karakura, gasoline tanks scattered around him and a lit match held up between his fingers. 

 

One wrong move and he'll drop the match. Consequences be damned. 

 

Ichigo is a beast. 

 

Uryuu knows this. 

 

“Ok," Ichigo says, voice flat, "but consider this: I’m very, _very_ good at violence.”

 

Uryuu knows that too. 

 

"... Right." Uryuu says, because that's all he can say. Ichigo had stormed into soul society, powers blazing and ready to take on anyone in his way to save Rukia from execution. She hadn't asked for help, but he had done it anyways. Now here he was, cleaning up another mess left behind by the soul society, the bounts; a tribe of artificially created human like beings that managed to live indefinitely so long as they consumed souls. 

And Ichigo had vowed to bring Kariya's pompous head down to soul society on a silver platter. 

Uryuu presses the palm of his hand against his face and sighs. 

He's not equipped for… _this._ For whatever Ichigo really _is._ For whatever those bounts _are_. For whatever _thing_ Ichigo has going on with Lucky. 

 

"If this is about Lucky-" 

 

Ichigo cuts him off with an animalistic growl. 

 

 _Ok_ , Uryuu laments, _wrong choice of words._ He shuts his mouth with an audible click. 

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Uryuu reaches for his glasses on his bedside table and then settles them onto the bridge of his nose. He stands to his feet and then shuffles towards the window and peaks out from behind the blue blinds. The moon is high up in the sky, Uryuu can make out a few clouds in the distance accompanied by a handful of stray souls and a soul reaper taking them into a clearing so that they can send them off into soul society. 

Nothing seems out of the ordinary. And yet… 

"She sold him." Ichigo's voice is dull, blank like a sheet of white paper. 

Uryuu fears the worst. Perhaps Ichigo won't just burn down Karakura. Maybe he'll start another short lived war. And if, no, _when_ he does start it, Uryuu will have to follow in tow. Because wherever Ichigo goes, Orihime is bound to follow and Chad is always a few steps behind them. Even if Uryuu dislikes being grouped in with them, Ichigo sees him as one of his own. So when Ichigo gives the all clear to start tearing everything apart, Uryuu will do just that. 

And no doubt Rukia will be somewhere on the front lines. 

"She?" He asks as he settles back into his bed, back pressed against his headboard and one knee pressed up against his chest. He props an arm over his knee and tilts his head back until he hears a satisfying crack. 

Ichigo clicks his tongue. There's the sound of metal clinking and echoed footsteps. Uryuu can make out ragged breaths from the other side of the phone. 

 

"What's your name?" Ichigo asks. 

 

Uryuu strains his ears. He doesn't hear anything. There's just silence. 

Uryuu can feel Ichigo's annoyance even through the phone. He cringes when he hears a sharp intake of breath and then choked off gasps. Uryuu's best bet is that Ichigo has his hand wrapped tightly around the woman's throat. 

 

_"Don't make me ask again."_

 

Feeling a shiver rack it's way up his spine, Uryuu clutches his phone tighter than before. He flickers his gaze back towards the window and then concentrates his line of sight to the quincy bracelet that hangs off his wrist. He takes a steadying breath, calms the thundering beat of his heart and swallows down the lump in his throat. It's not fear, Uryuu knows that. It's some weird, primal feeling that's lodged somewhere deep inside him. Like he's excited. 

 

He shouldn't be. 

 

Ichigo will probably kill the woman. 

 

He feels a thrill run through his veins knowing that. 

 

Licking his lips, Uryuu waits with bated breath. 

 

She tells Ichigo her name. Tells her sob story of how she should have sold Lucky to the black market, says there are a lot of people in high places that would pay millions for someone like him. 

"I sold him to that disgusting bount," the woman bites out harshly, "for my freedom."

Ichigo doesn't say anything back but Uryuu can hear the sound of metal clinking once again and then footsteps echoing away. 

"Aren't you going to do it?" _Aren't you going to kill her?_ Uryuu's words rush out of his mouth. He digs his fingers into his thigh again. He needs to stop saying things without thinking them through, it's so unlike him. 

 

Silence. 

 

And then, "Do what?" _Do you want me to?_  

 

Uryuu digs his fingers deeper into his thigh, until there are small crescent like marks oozing out tiny amounts of blood. He gazes at the marks, listens in on the sound of metal screeching against the ground in protest and then a dull thud as if Ichigo had just closed a heavy door. 

 

"Nothing." Uryuu says. _I'm not sure._ He ends the call before Ichigo can say another word. 

He presses the edge of his phone against his mouth and grinds his teeth. 

Soul society isn't going to get Kariya's head anymore. When Ichigo deals the final blow, they'll be nothing left of that bount. 

Uryuu is sure of that. 

\----

The next morning, Ochi-Sensei ushers them all into their seats. She shuffles through her papers, eyes the classroom with a keen eye, nods her head and then shushes them to be quiet. She glances at Lucky's desk and frowns when she finds it empty. 

"Alright class," she starts off, moving around to the front of her desk, "we have a new student today. Don't do anything stupid - Keigo get off your desk and sit in your chair properly. " 

"Yes ma'am."

There's a murmur of answers and quiet questionable murmurs. This is their second new student. Uryuu finds that a bit… _Off_. He shifts in his seat, tilts his head to the side so one side of his neck is exposed. He can feel Ichigo staring at him. It's unnerving. When Ichigo seems satisfied enough with staring, he moves his gaze onto Orihime. 

Uryuu releases a small sigh and watches the way Orihime smiles brightly and leans herself backwards until she's balancing on the last two legs of her chair. Tatsuki tells her off from where she's sitting, but Orihime shakes her head and leans even further until the ends of her orange hair are grazing the floor and her whole neck is exposed. 

Uryuu steals a glance towards Ichigo. The orange haired male is sat at his desk, hair set ablaze and usual scowl in place. His eyes seem somewhat darker than usual. He tears his gaze away from Orihime, albeit reluctantly and instead turns his whole body sideways so he can stare at the side of both Rukia's and Chad's necks. 

Uryuu doesn't really understand it, but Ichigo won't stop staring and now it's somewhat engraved into them to just bare their necks. It's somewhat awkward, but Ichigo always looks calmer afterwards. So it's fine. 

Orihime tips her chair back down and smiles apologetically at Tatsuki. Keigo mutters something to Asano, Chizuru sighs dreamily from where she's sat diagonally behind Orihime and Natsui rolls her eyes. Tatsuki shoots Chizuru a sharp, warning glare and Chizuru waves her off. Ogawa hides a laugh behind her hand. 

Ochi-Sensei shushes them once again and then calls out for the new student to enter. 

 

The door to the classroom slides open and in walks a girl. She walks with purpose, head held high and lips twisted into a smirk. She watches them with a predator-like gaze, maroon eyes narrowed. She raises a pale hand and waves her fingers at them. "Hello." She says, voice smooth and sluttery. She presses her index finger against her lips almost thoughtfully and puckers her lips into a pout. The sun flutters in through the window and illuminates the two familiar helix piercings she has attached to her ear. She twists a lock of her curly black hair between her fingers and giggles. "My name is Akumaki Jo. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

 

There's a gush of whispers followed by _'ooh's_ and _'aaah's_. 

 

The black haired female then points a finger towards the back where Ichigo is sat. "I want to sit in front of him," she says, turning to face Ochi-Sensei with a smile.

Uryuu swallows when he sees the way Orihime tilts her head in thought and the way Rukia grips the edge of her desk so tight her knuckles turn white. The wood suddenly breaks under her small hands and her desk tumbles to the ground with a loud 'thump!' 

Rukia laughs, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Oh my!" She says, standing to her feet. She grins, wide and fake and plops herself into Lucky's seat. "Looks like I'll just have to sit here." 

Ichigo makes some weird, rumbling sound of approval and Chad mimics it from where he's sat. 

Uryuu presses the palm of his hand against his face. 

Again. He's not equipped for _this_.

 

//its shorter than usual, but i really wanted to finish Uryuu's pov T^T


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ❝A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?❞  — Kristin Cashore

 

_**Chapter Nine:** _

 

Ichigo never wants to see another Bount in his _entire_ life.

Unfortunately, fate doesn’t care about what he wants.

While Uryuu has his fight with Yoshino and her weird bount like powers _(“they summon fucking ‘dolls’ Ichigo! Dolls that can regenerate and have elemental like powers!” Kone shouts at him, throwing his little lion paws into the air in frustration)_ and Rukia disappears, _(Ichigo nearly has a goddamn heart attack, why is everyone disappearing on him?)_ Ichigo is stuck with Urahara back at the Ex-Soul Reapers shop.

 

He scowls, lips dipping as his chocolate brown orbs bore into lighter ones. 

 

Urahara hides a grin behind his dull and green fan, he ducks his head with a childish laugh and his green and white striped bucket hat falls further over his eyes.

Ichigo doesn’t know how he feels about Urahara. He smells like a predator, there’s the underlying scent of bloodlust that’s always being tightly reigned in and something, _something_ else. It’s throwing Ichigo off.

 

Why is this predator acting like prey? 

 

“Okay,” Urahara pauses as he raises his head and lowers his fan, his lips are twitching as if he’s holding back a laugh, “how did you end up like this again?”

Ichigo’s scowl deepens. “It’s Shiro’s fault.” He grumbles defensively.

Urahara smiles, is not kind, it’s sharp - like a warning of some sort. He leans his chin into the palm of his hand, his light blonde hair following his movements. He stares at Ichigo with an unblinking stare. “You named your inner hollow?” He asks. He sounds like one of those specialist doctors at the hospital, the ones whose voices are void of any emotion.

“He named himself,” Ichigo grits out through his teeth, chest burning. He raises a tanned hand and rubs it against the middle of his chest. “Besides, I didn’t come here to talk about _that_ problem.” Because Shiro was a problem, a problem that would no doubt get Ichigo fucked over and killed. “I came here to talk about the bounts and…” Ichigo trails off, curling his hands into fists at his thighs. He wants to tell Urahara about Lucky. He does. He _really_ does. Ichigo opens his mouth to continue, but the burn in his chest intensifies so he shuts his mouth closed with an audible click.

Alright. So he can’t talk about Lucky to Urahara. Shiro’s made that much pretty clear.

Ichigo sighs. “Nevermind, just tell me how I’m supposed to take those bounts down. They’re really good at getting back up and it’s starting to get annoying.”

Urahara blinks at him, slow and deliberate. He takes a sip of his matcha tea and then settles it back down onto the kotetsu table between them.

“Ichigo,” He says, voice low and even - it makes the hairs on the back of Ichigo’s neck stand to attention - “are you keeping secrets from me?”

 

It’s such an innocent question and yet…

 

Ichigo mulls over his thoughts. He thinks of that woman he has locked up on the outskirts of Karakura town, he still doesn’t know her name, all he knows is that she was posing as Lucky’s mother and that she had sold him to the leader of the Bounts. Ichigo’s going to have a fun time slowly but surely torturing Kariya and then killing him.

 

Scratching at his cheek, Ichigo opens his mouth, “Why would I be keeping secrets away from you?”

 

Urahara narrows his eyes. “I don’t know Ichigo, why would you?”

 

 _Ah_. There it is. The predator.

 

Ichigo runs a tanned hand through his orange hair. “It’s complicated. I’ll tell you when I’m less busy trying to save the world.”

 

Urahara snorts. “So never?”

 

“You know me so well,” Ichigo clips.

 

——

 

He gets Rukia back a few days later. Ichigo crushes her into her hug, buries his nose into her black hair and holds her for a solid five minutes. 

She doesn’t complain, not even for a second.

Uryuu joins up with them, Orihime hot on his heels along with Chad. Renji Abarai is strolling slowly behind them, bright red hair held up in a ponytail and lips twisted into a scowl.

Ichigo glares at him for a split second before he smacks him across the shoulder. “Don’t fuck up,” he says, turning his back so he can smother Uryuu in his scent.

 

“No! Ichigo-“

 

“Shut up, or I’ll make it worse-“

 

Orihime laughs loudly at them.

 

——

 

The next few weeks are tiresome. Rukia nearly dies _(and fuck, isn’t that a terrryfing thought),_ Uryuu finally gets back some of his Quincy powers _(though there are some terrible side effects which Ichigo wishes he could plummet to the ground),_ Renji is surprisingly good at fitting into their group _(even though initially Renji and Ichigo had tried to kill each other)_ and the bounts are hurrying up their plans on destroying the soul society.

 

It’s a normal Saturday for Ichigo at this point. 

 

He lies to his dad and his sisters, tells them he’s going off to another camping trip and that he doesn’t know how long he’ll be gone for. Karin gives him a scowl that could rival his own any day and Yuzu stares at him with a worried gaze. His father pats him on the back, says some dumb speech about being a man that Ichigo only half listens to. He says his goodbyes and leaves.  
  


By the time he gets to soul society, his shoulders are heavy and his chest is _burning_. 

Orihime is the first to notice, as she always is, and she presses a hand against his shoulder and Ichigo release a long and tired sigh as he gets enveloped in an orange glow. It soothes the burn in his chest until it turns into an odd scratch that he can’t quite get rid off. He thanks her, shakes off the weird feeling in his stomach and sets of to take down Kariya.

It’s a little harder than he thought it would be, because _of-fucking-course_ there are large bombs stationed all over soul society that the bounts are VERY aware off.

So not only does he and his ragtag of a team have to take down SEVERAL bounts but they also have to diffuse bombs the size of mansions?

If the bounts don’t destroy the Soul Society, then Ichigo clearly will.

 

——

 

Ichigo is a monster.

 

He knows that.

 

There’s really no need to deny it.

 

He kills Kariya, makes sure there’s nothing left of him for soul society to pick up on and experiment. Because they’ve done it once before and they’d definitely do it again.

He says his goodbyes to soul society _(good riddance),_ mock salutes Hitsugaya who glares at him _(it’s funny because he’s a captain but he looks like a grade schooler),_ he avoids Kenpachi and his whole squad because there’s no way he’s fighting any of those idiots _again_ and somehow manages to piss off Soi Fon. She glares daggers into his back as he makes his way to the gate to the human world.

 

He idly wonders what he’s done to piss her off.

 

Shrugging, he flickers his gaze to the gate. Chad is stood there, smiling as he watches Uryuu argue with Renji over something stupid, no doubt. Ichigo’s lips quirk up. It looks like he’s acquired another person into his _‘delinquent group.’_ Maybe Byakuya will have something to say about that, since Renji is his _oh so beloved_ lieutenant. He wanders his gaze over to Orihime who’s smiling softly, orange hair blowing in the breeze behind her. She laughs as something Rukia says. The black haired girl is holding up a drawing and Ichigo snorts when he spots her badly drawn rabbits.

He slows to a stop just ahead of them. “Hey,” he says in lieu of greeting, smiling fondly when they all stop what they’re doing to greet him back. 

Ichigo reaches out a hand to ruffle hair and graze his knuckles against cheeks, he bumps his shoulders against theirs, makes a deep rumbling sound when Renji lets him scent him. Ichigo presses a kiss into Rukia’s hair, grazes his lips against Orihime’s cheek, holds the back of Uryuu’s neck for a few seconds and makes Chad lower his head so that he can run his fingers along the side of the dark skinned males jaw. When he’s satisfied that they all somewhat smell like him, he nods to himself. 

Ichigo motions for the two stray soul reapers at the far end to open the gate. “Let’s go home.” He murmurs, shifting his large Zanpakutō a little more over his shoulder. The gate gleams in front of them, it forms itself into old Japanese like paper doors that slide open and give away to Karakura town. 

Flickering his gaze around his group, Ichigo rubs at the middle of his chest for the umpteenth time and frowns. It would be nice if he had Lucky with him right about now. He hadn’t found him in the scuffle with Kariya and if anything really, Ichigo was too busy slicing the Bount down to ask any questions.

Orihime smiles at him knowingly, “You really miss him, don’t you?” She asks, voice light. She nudges Uryuu with her elbow and he pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. Renji stares at them with a confused expression. “What am I missing?” He asks.

“A brain.” Is Uryuu’s quick reply. 

Rukia hides a laugh behind a forced cough and Renji pushes her. They scuffle with each other, conk their heads and pull at the others cheeks. Uryuu is forced between them when Rukia pulls him forward and pushes him into Renji. That starts up another fight.

Ichigo has half the mind to just push them all through the gate. He’s tired and sore and his wounds will probably give his dad a heart attack, but he wants to go home and face plant straight into his bed. Was he asking for too much? Probably. 

“Maybe you should turn around, Ichigo.” Chad’s voice is deep and filled with amusement. Ichigo lifts a questioning eyebrow at the half Spaniard but turns to look anyway.

 

His mouth suddenly runs dry, the area just underneath his collar bones burns with such an intense need that it makes him short of breath and Ichigo digs his fingers into the palms of his hands. Something warm trickles down his hands and Ichigo is only half aware that it’s his blood.

It’s Lucky. Fluffy black hair and maroon eyes, pale skin and bruises accompanied by a soft smile. He’s being led down towards the gate by Yoruichi in her human form. She raises a dark skinned hand and waves it in the air with a large grin, golden eyes gleaming with mirth. Like she knows exactly what Ichigo is feeling.

A breeze flutters by and Ichigo catches the sweet smell of vanilla and cherries. 

Ichigo swallows audibly and his throat tightens.

Something else twists in his chest, like a deep state of hunger. His fingers twitch, eyes racking themselves up and down Lucky’s body. 

Ichigo is moving before he even knows it.

He’s oddly aware of Renji making a confused noise and Orihime patting his shoulder with a quiet _“Just watch, you’ll understand.”_

Everything else is just… _there_. Ichigo can see and hear, but it’s like he’s dunked his head underwater and now everything is unclear. Everything but Lucky.

Yoruichi says something Ichigo can’t quite catch, he sees a smile, hears a snicker and then she’s patting him on the back, golden eyes flashing with amusement as she walks past him towards the gate.

 

There’s just Lucky. Stood right in front of him. Maroon eyes blinking owlishly up at Ichigo and head tilting to the side cutely. So close, so fucking close, Ichigo wants to touch and kiss and make sure he’s okay, that he’s really there, right there and why does his chest hurt so fucking much-

Ichigo’s heart thunders behind his ribcage and his eyes sting. He raises his hands, hesitates for a second before he settles them on each side of Lucky’s face. He rubs his thumbs over soft cheeks, threads his fingers into messy black hair and watches the way Lucky stares up at him worriedly.

 

“Ichigo,” Lucky’s voice is quiet and soft, soothing but confused, “why are you crying?”

 

“Am I?” Ichigo asks, he can hear how hoarse his voice is and the area just underneath his collarbones burns even more. It hurts. It _really_ does. Ichigo pulls his hands away and touches his cheeks. They’re wet. He looks at his hands, one of them is stained with little droplets of black ink and the other in tears. “ _Oh_.” He breathes out. 

 

Ichigo isn’t the only one crying. Shiro is crying too.

 

Ichigo is a monster. 

 

And monsters don’t _get to_ cry.

 

His hands shake as he stares down at them. He blinks when Lucky wraps both of his pale hands around Ichigo’s larger tanned ones. “It’s okay Ichigo,” Lucky’s murmurs, he smiles, small and so caring and then he’s leaning up-

Ichigo closes his eyes when warm lips meet his own in a chaste kiss. It soothes down the burn in his chest, quiets the hunger prowling around his body and makes his shoulders drop in relief.

His chest rumbles deeply when Lucky pulls away, cheeks smeared red and eyes avoiding contact.

 

_//alright listen up hoes. i spent the whole night writing this sorry excuse of a chapter - im literally running on about five cups of coffee and one cheese and onion pastie :// so if none of this makes sense or seems too rushed, well, idgaf.  im too tired to apologise. yikes._

 


	10. Chapter 10

❝ _Knowing can be a curse on a person's life. I'd traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn't know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can't ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now._ ❞ _— Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees_

**Chapter Ten:**

"I think we all need to get out onto an empty field and just scream for about an hour,” Renji says, stretching his arm upwards as if to reach for the ceiling. He blinks tiredly at his fingers and stretches them.

Rukia murmurs something incoherent from where her head is rested against his stomach. Renji can hear Chad shuffling and Orihime quietly laughing, someone knocks their arm against his head and Renji sighs loudly. He scowls when the stuffed lion Kone jumps over his head with a mocking giggle and then climbs his way onto Ichigo’s bed.

It’s the middle of the night, the moonlight is shining through the window and everyone is gathered in Ichigo’s room. Their wounds are many, adrenaline still quietly buzzing somewhere in the background - and most of them are sprawled against the floor, huddled around each other, limbs touching and heat spreading.

Uryuu turns around in his sleep, face falling mere millimetres away from Renji’s own.

Renji stiffens for an odd second and then awkwardly flails his arm around until he just lets it drops weirdly around Uryuu. His scowl deepens when both Rukia and Uryuu snuggle into him at the same time.

 _Damn it,_ Renji huffs internally, _I’m not a pillow._

He flickers his gaze towards the bed, from his angle on the floor, Renji can just about see Ichigo threading his fingers slowly through Lucky’s dark hair. They’re both on the single bed, Ichigo has his head raised, cheek held up by the palm of his hand and elbow planted against the pillow. His back is blocking the sight of Lucky. 

There’s the softest little gasp followed by a quiet, excited whisper of, _“he can talk?”_

Renji closes his eyes, tilting his head back to its original position. _Lucky_ , he thinks.

“Damn right i can,” he hears Kone boast. He imagines the stuffed lion proudly throwing its little paw into the air and snorts.

There’s the sound of shuffling once more, Orihime murmurs something in her sleep, Rukia kicks out one of her short legs and settles them across Chad’s own, Uryuu barely makes a noise as he presses his nose into Renji’s collarbones. The redhead lets him, blaming it on the tiredness aching somewhere deep in his bones.

Ichigo hums lowly, chocolate brown orbs gazing over Lucky’s features. He watches the way the black haired male pulls Kone towards his chest and snuggles his face into the stuffed lion. Kone merely snuggles back, appreciating the attention.

Smiling softly, Ichigo pets Lucky’s hair like one would pet a dogs fur. Lucky blinks up at him sluggishly, maroon eyes lowering into sleep. Running his fingers through Lucky’s black locks once more, Ichigo lowers his tanned hand to wrap around the side of a pale neck. He rubs his thumb across a soft cheek, matches his dark gaze with Lucky’s maroon one and then abruptly stops when his thumb presses against the edge of Lucky’s lips. 

Ichigo’s chest burns when Lucky parts his lips, pink tongue flickering out - he feels immediate heat shoot its way through his body and swallows harshly. Ichigo settles himself onto his side properly, trails his hand slowly away from Lucky’s mouth and instead settles it around his waist.

“Got to sleep,” Ichigo says, his voice something between a whisper and a murmur.

“Ok,” Lucky says in the same tone. He flutters his eyes closed, long lashes falling against his cheeks and-

Ichigo wants him. 

 _Really_ wants him.

But it’s neither the time nor the place.

He falls asleep with his nose buried in Lucky’s soft hair, the scent of cherries and vanilla easing him into a sense of calm.

And if he somehow manages to get a hand underneath Lucky’s shirt, palm placed flat against the other males lower back to feel the soft skin there - _well_ , it’s not like anyone can _see_. 

 

——  
  


Slowly and reluctantly Lucky flutters his maroon eyes open. He blinks, closes his eyes, and blinks again. Streaks of sunlight penetrate the window and cast stripes of golden light across his face and across the bedroom, gradually trickling over a still sleeping Ichigo’s orange hair and setting it ablaze.

With how close they are, Lucky can see the tiny freckles that rest across the bridge of Ichigo’s nose. There’s a tiny scar settled just at the end of one of his brows and Lucky raises a hand and slowly traces his thumb over it, hand carefully settling on the males cheek. 

Ichigo lets out a low humming sound, almost as if he’s pleased with the contact. 

There’s the sound of shuffling from the floor, someone mumbles something Lucky can’t quite catch, he hears the sound of a yawn followed by a quiet rumble. Kone isn’t on the bed anymore, so he must be on the floor too. 

Lucky laughs when he pulls his hand away from Ichigo’s face, the other male’s lips twisting into his usual scowl. His orange brows furrow and the arm that he has around Lucky’s waist tightens.

“Thank you,” Lucky whispers quietly. He presses a soft kiss against the edge of Ichigo’s mouth and then burrows his face into the males chest.

 

——

 

“So…,” Renji’s trails off, pulling one knee towards his chest and settling an arm around it. He opens his mouth, visibly pauses, scrunches up his nose in confusion and then tries once more, “What are you?”

There’s an odd pause in the air where everyone makes awkward eye contact.

Ichigo runs a hand through his orange hair, Orihime gives an uneasy smile and Lucky ducks his head, shoulders hunched. Chad merely flickers his gaze to the side, eyes falling on the dark blue drapes of Ichigo’s room.

“Well,” Rukia starts off, “You and I are both Soul Reapers.” She says, pointing her index finger at herself and then at Renji.

“But so is Ichigo, right?” Renji questions, red brows raising. “A substitute, anyway.” 

Rukia strains a smile, an odd sounding chuckle leaving her mouth. “He sure is,” she mutters, fingers clenching into fists at her thighs. The black haired female remembers the way she had forced her Zanpakuto through Ichigo’s chest, the way she had tried to give him only some of her power - but that hadn’t happened. Ichigo has absorbed all of it and then made it his own. 

He wasn’t just a Substitute Soul Reaper. He was _much_ more. 

Frighteningly more.

Uryuu snorts. “I’m obviously a Quincy,” he says, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. He settles his hands into his lap, dark eyes flickering towards the red head Renji and then towards Rukia. He nudges his shoulder against hers and the female blinks before shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts.

“Moving on,” Rukia clears her throat, “the unexplainables.” She juts a thumb towards Chad and Orihime’s direction. 

Orihime scratches at her cheek, eyes glued to the carpeted floor. “My spirit energy is sort of kept inside these hairpins,” she explains, settling her fingers against the flower hairpins on both sides of her orange hair. She smiles softly, remembering her deceased brother who had given them to her. “They give me the ability to heal others. They’re not made for battle really, but I try.”

“My power manifests in my arm,” Chad says, voice low as usual. “It changes shape, but that’s all I know about it.” 

“Huh,” Renji huffs out a puff of air. He moves his gaze towards Lucky. “And you? Your powers must be pretty special, considering the whole Bount thing.”

“Uh,” Lucky fumbles, pulling on the strings of his black hoodie. He raises his head, maroon coloured eyes falling onto Ichigo at his side. The orange haired male is already staring down at him, chocolate brown orbs boring straight into Lucky’s soul - almost like he might know.

Lucky nibbles into his lower lip. He tugs on the strings of his hoodie once more and then abruptly pulls his hood over his head. He takes a steadying breath and then slowly breathes it out - fire curls from out of his lungs and into the air in front of him. Lucky gently guides it forward into his hand and then lets the flames dance across his pale fingers. 

Ichigo suddenly curls his tanned fingers around Lucky’s wrist and pulls it towards his own face. He blows the orange and red flames out and then frowns when he sees tiny scorch marks littered across Lucky’s hand.

“Does it hurt?” Ichigo asks.

“It’s fine,” Lucky mutters, tugging his hand out of Ichigo’s grip, “I’m used to it.” 

“Pyrokinesis?” Uryuu raises one single brow. “Nice.”

“That’s cool, kinda unexpected though.” Orihime presses the tip of her index finger against her lips as if in thought. 

Chad makes a sound of agreement.

“That’s all?” Renji asks, scratching the back of his head. “I was expecting something a bit more… Bount worthy.”

Lucky ducks his head even further. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “That’s all.” He fiddles with his fingers, twisting them around each other - he can feel Ichigo’s gaze burning into him. Maybe he knows Lucky isn’t quite telling the truth, but it’s not like he can just blurt everything out.

Ichigo clicks his tongue and Uryuu suddenly starts up an argument with Renji and Rukia brings out her drawing pad from out of nowhere. She starts animatedly talking, waving her arms around and making bad drawings. “So this is Chad,” she says, grinning. Orihime softly giggles, “That’s a rabbit, Rukia.”

“And this is a Hollow-”

“That’s an angry looking rabbit-”

“And this is Chad’s power-”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Chad mutters under his breath. He stealthily avoids a blow to the head by Rukia and instead moves to sit in front of Ichigo and Lucky, blocking everyone’s view of them. Orihime shuffles to sit on his other side, doing the same. They all then start talking over each other, Rukia being the loudest and Chad being the quietest. There’s a moment where Uryuu elbows Renji into the ribs by, let’s say, _accident_ and it starts a scuffle between the two males.

Lucky hesitantly raises his head, the hood falling down back to his shoulders. He stares up at Ichigo with wide eyes, teeth nibbling into his bottom lip softly.

Ichigo stares back down at him, he flickers his gaze over pale features and thin brows, over soft cheeks and pink lips. Tilting his head ever so slightly, Ichigo taps his thigh. _Twice_. His chest _aches_ and _burns_ and his fingers twitch with the _need_ to touch.

Lucky’s cheeks flush into a pretty shade of red instantly. He tucks a stray lock of his black hair behind his reddened ears and then crawls his way into Ichigo’s lap. He places a leg on each side of the other male and twists his fingers into Ichigo’s purple t-shirt. 

Ichigo breathes out a sigh of relief when he wraps his arms around Lucky. He inhales the familiar scent of vanilla and cherries and lets the burn inside his chest slowly ease out.

That is, until Lucky presses his nose into the underside of Ichigo’s jawline and softly whines. An apology along with a promise to do better.

Ichigo feels the burn in his chest ache tenfold. 

How is he supposed to keep himself in check when Lucky does things like this?

 

_//listen up kids!! this is a filer. do i care? no, not really. why? because i spent days writing this shit. anyways, until next time. b y e ._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after like, 2 maybe 3, months iM BAAAAACKK—  
> with some minor lime at the end bc i feel really bad for not updating for so long—

**Chapter eleven:**

There are a lot of things Ichigo wants to do. For example, he wants to stab his Zanpakutō through Lucky’s (fake) mother’s chest, he wants to throttle Akumaki Jo for simply existing, there’s also the fact that Ichigo he been itching to set the Soul Society ablaze for a while now. He’d also like to shove Renji and Uryuu into a locked room just so he doesn’t have to see them walking around each other with obvious something in their eyes.

It’s been about a month or so since the incident with the bounts — and the Soul Society along with Karakura Town are quiet. Suspiciously quiet, actually. Ichigo is pretty sure some sort of incident is on it’s way. There’s never real peace. Just a false pretence.

There’s also the thick tension between Lucky and Jo that has Ichigo on edge. He’s prepared for some form of attack, any attack really. Jo is like a stalking predator, a leopardess in the wild that is circling around her prey, toying with it until it simply gives in and falls to inevitable death. Lucky on the other hand, is like a timid stray cat, gaze filled with untrust and movements cautious but jerky. He’s always looking over his shoulder, clutching the strap of his backpack a little too tightly and he barely talks. When he does talk, his words are carefully chosen and spoken quietly as if he’s afraid his sister, Jo, might overhear then and use them against him. However innocent they may be.

He doesn’t let anyone touch him either.

Which is frustrating, because Ichigo is back to _square-fucking-one._

And what’s even more frustrating is that Ichigo wants to. He _wants_ and _wants_ and _wants_. He _craves_ to touch Lucky. To feel the soft skin under the pads of his finger tips, to feel warmth whenever he holds him, to just feel. Ichigo wants to smother Lucky in his scent. He wants to have Lucky underneath him, pretty and pliant and letting him have his way with him. He wants to thread his fingers through black hair and sink his teeth into pale skin. To leave behind darkening hickeys that will last for days for everyone to see.

Ichigo _wants_.

And he isn’t getting anything.

Turning over onto his back, Ichigo stares at the plain ceiling of his bedroom and thinks of how easy it would be to kill Jo and get rid of any and all evidence. It’s a nice train of thought. He imagines letting Shiro out, just for a few moments, so that they can both rip out Jo’s pathetic excuse for a heart, feel the literal last beat of it in the palms of their hands and watch the light die in her eyes. There’s a hissed whisper in the back of his mind, ‘ _do it,’_ shiro growls, ‘ _lets get rid of her, she’s a threat to our mate.’_

Ichigo peers over to the clock on his nightstand. It reads, ‘02:07am.’ Perfect. It’s the middle of the night, Ichigo can easily slip out and be back before Yuzu starts waking everyone up for work and school. Ichigo swings his legs over the side of his bed. He strains his ears for any unusual sounds in the house. His dad is snoring away in his room, Yuzu and Karin are asleep in their shared bedroom and Lucky is downstairs in the guest room.

The closet door sliding open catches Ichigo’s attention. It’s Rukia’s, she swings her legs over the edge and falls onto the carpet without a single sound. She’s dressed only in one of Ichigo’s shirts and her hair is all messed up.

“Going somewhere?” She asks, matching her gaze with Ichigo’s own. Her silver eyes somehow seem brighter in the dark of the night.

‘ _She’s… useable.’_ Shiro admits. There’s a particular grunt to his voice that Ichigo knows all too well. Shiro isn’t exactly happy about admitting that he likes Rukia — to a certain extent. ‘ _I don’t want her to come along,’_ Ichigo admits. He feels like Rukia might change her mind about staying and then she’ll leave. It spikes anxiety within him.

“I need to take care of something,” Ichigo says after a minor pause. He stand to his feet, grabs the hoodie he has thrown over his desk chair and forces it over his head. He falls back onto his bed to throw on an old pair of sneakers, tucking the laces behind his ankles and into the back of the shoes.

Rukia tilts her head to the side, assessing him like she would access someone on the battlefield. “Is that something related to Jo?” She asks, her words are heavy but her voice is startlingly light.

Ichigo ignores her in favour of opening the latch on his window and forcing the thing open. He peers out into the night, the moon is high up in the sky and there are only a few clouds. Ichigo inhales and exhales slowly, watching his breath swirl in front of his face like smoke. It’s cold. A small movement from the ground suddenly catches his attention. Ichigo huffs out a quiet laugh. It’s Yoruichi in her cat form, gold eyes staring up at Ichigo and black tail swishing behind her small form. It’s like she had been waiting for Ichigo to finally leave in the middle of the night to kill.

“I’ll be back by morning,” Ichigo says and then climbs out of his bedroom.

Rukia doesn’t stop him.

 

——

 

Lucky fiddles with the buttons of his school shirt, it’s early in the morning and the sun is sending streaks of light through the guest bedroom. He yawns as he buttons the second to last button, pulling at the collars to smoothen them out. He has about ten minutes left for breakfast and another five to catch up to Orihime and Tatsuki so they can walk together. He’d promised to walk with them after Orihime had literally begged him to. She had looked sad about it too, a little worried with her furrowed brows and careful smile. She kept her distance mostly, afraid to come closer lest Lucky flinch away from her. Lucky didn’t blame her for anything, but he was grateful she understood that sometimes Lucky just reverted to his old self. No touching, no talking, just quietness. He just needed to be alone for a while (and maybe it did have something to do with his sister, but he didn’t particularly like thinking about _that_ or _her_.)

Lucky is brought out of his musings when the door to the guest room opens. Ichigo steps inside and closes the door behind him with the back of his foot. His sneaker leaves behind a mud mark. He raises his head, tilting it back and a little to the side to gaze at Lucky with dark brown eyes. There’s a red, slightly brown, substance at the edge of his sharp jawline, on the tips of his orange hair and splattered across his chest. His hands are tucked into the pockets of his hoodie, but something tells Lucky that his hands are covered in the colour red as well. His nose scrunches up as he connects the substance with the familiar smell of blood. A shiver stacks itself up his spine. Lucky should probably move, run. However, Ichigo’s gaze keeps him rooted to the spot. He feels like prey now, diligently served on a silver platter for his predator.

 

Lucky swallows dryly and Ichigo lowers his line of sight to watch his adam apple move. He moves forward, steps slow and quiet, sneakers tracking mud over the carpet. Lucky heart beats so loudly it makes his ears ring. He gives an unsure smile when Ichigo stops right in front of him, there’s barely an inch left between them. Surely Ichigo won’t do anything to hurt him… will he?

Ichigo slowly reaches out to him — his hands are clean, but there is blood underneath his fingernails — he places his right hand on Lucky’s left hip and pulls him closer until they’re pressed flush against one another. His other hand wraps itself around the side of Lucky’s neck, fingers cradling through the youngers black hair and thumb softly rubbing against his cheek. Lucky instantly flushes, heat travelling to his cheeks and colouring them pink. Ichigo makes a low, rumbling sound that comes from his chest. Almost as if in approval. Curling his fingers into Ichigo’s hoodie, Lucky tries to slow his heart beat down. Ichigo makes a soft humming sound and then leans forward to press his forehead against Lucky’s own.

They stand like that for a few moments, gazing into each other's eyes — Ichigo’s are dark, swirling with an emotion Lucky can’t quite pinpoint — feeling nothing but the touch of one another and the gentle brush of their exhales. Lucky trembles, his whole body shaking as Ichigo lowers his head and angles it to the side. Lucky screws his eyes shut in anticipation. Ichigo moves forward and connects their lips together. It’s not the usual kiss they share, the simple press of their lips is overtaken by Ichigo moving his mouth roughly against Lucky’s own. His insistent mouth parts Lucky’s trembling lips, sending wild tremors along his nerves. Ichigo licks his way into Lucky’s mouth, feeling out every crevice, exhaling quietly through his nose.

Lucky makes a high-pitched whine, breathing out a soft and ruined, “ _Ichigo, Wait—,”_ as Ichigo pulls away for a split second and then dives in again with renowned fever. Ichigo’s hands slip under his ass, grabbing both cheeks and pushing them up at the exact same time he pushes his hips down. A moan startles past Lucky’s lips and Ichigo swallows it, hot and needy. Forcing his mouth away, Lucky turns his face to the side to catch his breath. Ichigo’s dives in to brush his lips against his throat, grazing his teeth against the pale skin there. One of Ichigo’s hands leaves his ass to travel underneath his school shirt, fingers trailing across his ribs and nails digging into the skin there.

Lucky arches into the touch with a strangled gasp. He feels hot now. Too hot. It’s like fire is igniting itself within his veins. He whimpers. “ _Ichigo, Ichigo, wait—_ ”

“Sorry,” Ichigo murmurs against his throat, voice raw and deep. And for a few seconds, Lucky forgets how to breathe. He only takes in a deep breath when Ichigo finally pulls away, pupils shining gold and eyes black. He swipes a tongue over his bottom lip and slowly eases out his hand from underneath Lucky’s shirt. His other hand stays wrapped around the side of the youngers face, thumb slowly rubbing against Lucky’s red cheek. He leans in again and Lucky makes a protesting sound, scrunching up his nose when Ichigo licks a wet stripe from his jaw to his cheek.

He pulls away with a deep, rumbling sound. “There,” he breathes out, “now you’re scented.”

Lucky can only make a pathetic whine.

 

1815 words//unedited.

**Author's Note:**

> ^ↀᴥↀ^


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